A Time Apart
by Ozzallos
Summary: When contingencies go horribly awry, the Senshi of Pluto is left standing alone to face a perilous future. Ranma x Setsuna, multi-cross; HP,RoD,CCS,SM,R.5,Hellsing
1. Chapter 1

Roll credits to _How Far We've Come – Matchbox 20_

* * *

**Prologue**

**T**he universe was not a toy. It was, In fact, an incredibly fine tuned mechanism, balancing forces both mundane and exotic on a celestial clockwork that ticked inexorably toward the future. Altering it in any way shape or form was ill-advised due to the forces involved, and while those forces were permitted to bend, thumbing one's nose at universal law was generally detrimental to a long term existence. For example, one could, in theory, bring the gears of fate grinding to a halt and stop time cold. It would require an artifact of immense power to bring such ambition to pass, but it could be done.

Setsuna Meiou, otherwise known as Sailor Pluto, had access to just such an artifact. They were known simply as the Time Gates, and granted her access to Time Majorum. With this last great artifact of the Silver Millennium, the Princess of Pluto could move between the past and the future, though this was forbidden since it was painfully easy to create a paradox.

The universe dealt with such careless time travel most harshly, but Pluto was careful. Stopping time was also forbidden, but unlike actual time travel, the repercussions were more personal in nature. While freezing time would not create a reality shattering paradox, it did, by its very nature, stop time.

All of time.

Throughout the _entire_ universe.

Theoretically you could do so as long as you wanted, provided one could keep up with an energy demand of 42,897 solar watts per second and were willing to risk the exponential increase in temporal sheering. Assuming you could surmount those hurdles, there was one final challenge to overcome… Death. You could stop the universe, but once your time ran out, the gears of quantum physics would crush you with merciless efficiency. It was a fact that the Guardian of the Underworld knew all too well, as she had already initiated her own demise twice before in the same manner…

…And now, it was looking like she would need to do so a third time.

"_Jikan yo Tomare_."

The world around Sailor Pluto suddenly flashed as the power necessary to stop time gathered and released in silence, blasting a wave front of tachyons across the visible light spectrum. When her vision returned, she found the world leeched of color; the battlefield below little more than a single frame from a photo negative. Black smoke plumes that had been the result of pyrotechnics were frozen in time; likewise the raging fires that had spawned them. Innocent civilians were stopped in their panicked fleeing, and even Tuxedo Black's corrupted beam of power had been checked. Setsuna Meiou was now _between_ time.

She had thirty seconds.

The emerald manned guardian floated down from her position on high and landed next to Sailor Moon, who was likewise frozen; caught in that single moment with the rest of the world. ..._The rest of the universe, for that matter,_ Setsuna amended silently as she contemplated her next course of action. Usagi had taken more than a few hits, and the wounds were quite evident. A sizable cut running down her cheek. The white top of her fuku armor breached in several places. More blood. The Moon Princess held herself in a guarded position, braced against Tuxedo Black's next attack which had frozen less than a meter from impact.

Pluto nodded, her course clear. She brought up the Time Key and touched her future queen on the head with the heart tip. The staff found its target and synchronized her temporally, freeing the blond from Setsuna's final technique. The girl suddenly lurched, bracing for an attack that wouldn't come.

Moon blinked from behind her guard, head pivoting wildly. "What? huh?"

"Princess," Pluto stated, gaining her attention. Even as the inevitable question began to burble from Sailor Moon's lips, the Guardian of Time preempted them abruptly. "I have stopped, time. For the moment, we are insulated from reprisal."

The blonde simply nodded, her thoughts running a mile a minute along several divergent paths. Setsuna continued, gently pulling Usagi gently out of the black beam's path. "I cannot afford you to be corrupted by Tuxedo Black before the others arrive. The outcome would be quite disastrous."

"But he's too-"

"No time, Princess," The Senshi of Time shook her head, cutting off any further questioning with a frown. "Yes, he is quite powerful. Nor does it help that he is preying on your weakness for the man he used to be, but Black himself has a substantial weakness." Sailor Moon looked on the verge of tears with the memory, but nodded for her to continue. "He is still the Prince of Earth, ordained by Serenity herself."

"He's..?!" Sailor Moon gasped with the revelation.

Sailor Pluto opened her mouth to say something, but paused as a tremor of power rippled through her being. _The universe is getting impatient,_ she thought, then continued hastily. It wouldn't be long now. "He is, but in his arrogance, has forgotten a crucial fact… You are the successor to that power. You can giveth, but more importantly, _you can taketh_."

The vibration of power cascading within reverberated once more, reminding the guardian that her fate was nigh. She could see so many questions in her Queen's eyes, questions she would be unable to answer in her last few moments of life. Pluto offered an understanding smile in their place. "The time gate's anchor is failing, your Highness. Prepare yourself. I look forward to meeting you again, someday."

With those final words, the Guardian of Pluto seemed to freeze as her very form was leached of color. The woman's vibrant green mane dulled, then faded into grays before becoming a ghostly transparent. Even as she ceased to existed, Sailor Moon watched the complete opposite happen to the world around her. Buildings and people- previously grey themselves -slowly gained definition and life. Color was returning and time began to resume, ticking by at an excruciating crawl.

Setsuna was all but gone now, her ghostly body little more than a trick of the light. Usagi focused not only on the world around her, but the black beam Pluto had pulled her away from. It too now crept along at a snails pace, but would obviously miss her. She stared back down along its vector and upon the person who had unleashed it, her friend, her lover and now, her enemy. He was clad completely in black, offset only by a pair of red eyes peering out from a smirking mask. The princess turned back to the last remnants of Setsuna Meiou with a sad smile.

"Thank you, Puu."

_SHReeeiiiKK!_ _**BOOOM!**_

Sound roared back into the world as the temporal bubble collapsed completely, the black beam of corruption lancing by Sailor Moon. Tuxedo Black gaped. He had missed by several feet. _The whining simpleton simply wasn't that fast!_

_"Impossible!"_

"The sacrifices of loved ones at the hands of traitors is something I cannot abide," Sailor Moon turned back to her opponent, her features set in stone and vengeance dancing in her blue eyes. A pink aura sprang to life, healing any battle damage she had incurred over the last half an hour as if it had all been inconsequential. Tuxedo Black took a trembling step back as white magic gained density around him. A fierce pink sphere of power manifested itself in her hand.

She held it aloft, clearly intent on a retaliatory strike. "In the name of the Moon, you shall be punished!"

* * *

**A Time Apart**_  
By Ozzallos_

**Chapter One**

* * *

**P**ain. Excruciating pain. Setsuna Meiou's world was made of pain, as if somebody had taken her body, pulled it inside out and dragged her across a salted layer of molten glass.

For all intents and purposes, suicide by temporal dissolution was supposed to be a relatively pain-free event. You can only hold time at bay for so long before universal law retaliated, disassembling your person in a maelstrom of exotic particles as you try and reenter the time stream. Even at the height of the Silver Millennium, the greatest minds in physics had yet to negate this absolute, though they had found ways around it.

Spiritual energy was one of the few exceptions to the rule of temporal law and though the person stopping time would still be crushed by time itself, their soul, properly anchored to an artifact of power, would remain. Of course, they would still technically die and would reincarnate, but it was possibly to survive the event…

…In a manner of speaking.

Setsuna Meiou had 'survived' two such events already and was working on her third. The previous two had happened exactly as advertised. She powered up. She stopped time. And then, after thirty seconds, she died. A fairly painless way to go, all things considered. The time gates had helped with the rebirth process, but she still lost considerable ground every time it occurred, forcing her future self covered her absence until she matured…

…And confuse the hell out of her once she recovered her memories.

The second time wasn't so bad, though she nearly hadn't arrived in time to save Uranus and Neptune. That had shaken her. She was the Guardian of Time, the Senshi's last resort. She watched their backs. She removed threats before they _became_ threats. Suddenly, it was clear: If events ever went awry while she was still recovering from a previous time stop… From that point on, Sailor Pluto developed a hobby. Some people collected coins. Others cataloged insects. Setsuna Meiou set to learning how to survive a time stop event.

Modifications to the gates were made. Simulations ran. It looked good. The power curve was a bit dicey, but odds were looking fairly good that she would survive the process. In theory, the Princess of Pluto would dial up a time stop, use her thirty seconds and watch her temporal bubble collapse. If everything went as planned, the gate would erect bank of secondary shielding that would hold for the better half of a pico second before folding. That half pico second was all that was needed to shunt her mass back to the buffered safety of the gates and a glass of warm sake.

In theory.

Reality said her body was being sucked through a twelve dimensional straw, her very mass folded up like some misshapen quantum origami swan before being ripped apart at the subatomic level. Matter streamed wildly across time and space, straining to find its anchor. Her very soul screamed as the Time Gates fought to retain their ties, causing agony beyond meaning. Her life force stretched and twisted through dimensional ether until only one outcome could come to pass…

The planetary bindings snapped.

The Senshi of Pluto experienced one last ethereal spike of white hot pain through her soul before merciful black overtook her.

And Silence.

* * *

"**S**he's coming around, Doctor."

The words floated through the haze of Setsuna's consciousness as she fought to open her eyes. The attempt was met by excruciating white light, jerking her left hand to shield her face. Pain flooded her nervous system as she lifted her arm, prompting the woman to quickly abandon the attempt and leave her eyes shut.

"Now, now, I wouldn't advise that at the moment, Miss…?"

It was clearly a question, this time having been voiced by a male. _The aforementioned doctor, undoubtedly_. "Meiou," She returned, unable to keep the fatigue from her voice. The shuffling of papers and random scribbling met her ears while. "May I ask where I am?"

"Jutendo Hospital," the disembodied voice replied amiable, confirming at least part of her suspicions while another thread of logic dissected the meager details available. _Jutendo, ten kilometers south… minor spatial displacement…?_ "Do you remember what happened?"

"Pain… I remember lots of pain." She replied easily. It was the truth, of course. Just not the whole truth. "Can you turn down the lights?"

"Oh, of course," The voice obliged. A couple footsteps later and the deed was done. "That should do it." Setsuna's red eyes fluttered open, confirming exactly what she was expecting to find… A small, now dimly lit hospital room with herself hooked up to every manner of device. The polite, rhythmic beeping was the one measuring her heart beat. Standard bed, hospital gown… "As for the pain, that does sound about right, given the condition in which you were found."

"And what condition was that?"

The doctor, a gentleman in his late fifties, stroked his goatee thoughtfully before pulling up a stool beside her bed and consulting the bedside clipboard. The uniformed nurse beside him gave her a kind smile before exiting the room with several papers in hand. "First and second degree burns, scrapes, bruising… And, ahem… completely nude. You were found unconscious on a sidewalk."

The emerald haired woman barely nodded, accepting the information quietly. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"Two days," The doctor answered readily. "It's April sixteenth."

Her next question, however, caused him pause. "What year?"

"Er, 1998," He replied carefully before consulting the clipboard once more. "Are you experiencing…_gaps_ in your memory by any chance?"

She smiled weakly at him, playing her part as the perfect patient. "I.. don't think so… It's just very hazy at the moment."

The physician ticked the end of his pencil on his clip board a couple times, lost in thought. After a moment, he came to a silent conclusion. "If you don't mind, I'm going to have the nurse administer some tests…"

Setsuna quirked an eyebrow. "What sort of tests?"

"Well, I'm worried that given the condition you were found in, you may have been a victim of some kind of… _abuse_," The doctor picked over his words carefully. "Blackouts and loss of detail would be symptomatic of that… As well as any number of other things, of course."

"Of course," She frowned, getting the message quite clearly. _No, dear doctor, just a bout of uncontrolled spatial displacement. At least I'm _when_ I'm supposed to be._ "I'll cooperate in any way I can."

His smile brightened. "Excellent. My nurse will be back within the hour. Anything you can remember between now and then will be of benefit as well."

"I'll do my best." She reaffirmed and he attached her medical clipboard back to the bed before stepping out of the room. Setsuna waited for another thirty seconds before sliding her legs off the right side of the bed slowly, disconnecting the intravenous tubing first, but leaving the EKG and heart feeds intact. Pain coursed through her body, so she took it slow, standing up carefully. The heart monitor's beeping picked up in pace, but remained otherwise stable.

"Damned if I'm sticking around for a rape kit…" She muttered and held out her hand, willing the time key from folded space. Air popped as it was displaced by the stave's mass, dropping into her hand with a comforting weight. It had been her nearly nonstop companion for the better part of 15,000 years, after all. The Time Key touched her skin and began its routine data dump through her armor's cerebral link, which was all but ignored. After having the staff in her possession for so long, it was quite unnecessary to--

_Carrier lost. Switching to local mode._

A singular data flag caught her attention as the report drifted through her conscious. _That isn't right_. Setsuna took conscious control of the link now and sent a command back to the staff. _Reestablish link._

The guardian felt the key attempt the uplink once, then twice. It terminated further attempts with the third. _Carrier not found. _Setsuna's frown was barely visible in the dim room. The key and the gates were linked together at all times. It should never be in local mode. _Ever_. Local mode also meant the staff was operating on its own power, or rather, whatever was left after her time stopping shenanigans. The good news appeared to be that she had lived through the event as predicted. The bad news was looking like she would need to reboot the time gates. _Dammit,_ she fumed and queried the key once more. _That_ was going to occupy the better part of a week and she felt like crap.

Part of the report she had neglected flowed back through to her_. One hundred percent function… thirty two percent power reserves… Just enough to get me back to the gate… _

Her course of action was crystal clear with the new information. Port back to the gates, reboot them and find out how Moon faired against Tuxedo Black. It was two days since the attack and Tokyo was still standing, which implied a favorable outcome. The gates came first. She mentally nudged the staff once more and it gathered the necessary power.

_Assembling displacement field…_

_Jump coordinance established…_

_Synchronizing…_

_Discharge Imminent…_

Her command was processed in under a second, removing her presence from the room in a pink flash of light.

The heart monitor erupted in a pitched keening as its patient went into seeming cardiac arrest.

* * *

**P**luto shrugged off the paper thin parchment mistakenly labeled a hospital gown, stepping nude into the black void that housed the Time Gates. Before her stood the construct in all its glory; the last great artifact of the silver millennium. Setsuna exert mental pressure through the time key, willing her fuku armor into existence before proceeding further.

A frown crossed creased her lips as she studied the gates in detail. The massive double doors weren't vibrating with power. There was no activity, standby or otherwise. The artifact was dead. Cold. _Completely silent_.

_Impossible…_ She mumbled, walking around the gates. Icy dread began to seep in. _They're not just in standby awaiting reboot… They're completely powered off!_

In fact, she could barely remember the last time they had been turned off. _Phase three stress testing maybe,_ she thought silently, staring in awe. _But that was back when the Silver Millenium still existed... _Her brain began to conjure all the scenarios and just what kind of forces it would take to knock the gates completely offline. _Was the beating they took during time stop recovery that bad?_ _None of the simulations even hinted to…_

The Mistress of time chewed on the dilemma for another moment before sighing. "It can't be helped, I suppose."

Sailor Pluto circled back to the left edge of gates, inspecting the heavy framework that housed the doors themselves. She ran a light finger down the left center of the oak column, then perpendicular to the path. She stopped and a small, hand sized panel folded away, revealing a recessed dial lit by dim pink emergency lighting. Setsuna gripped the dial's hand hold and pulled outward sharply, then twisted counterclockwise ninety degrees. The action met with a loud click and the cylinder abruptly sank back into the superstructure until it was flush with the inner frame.

The emerald haired woman stepped back, eyeing the gates patiently. Less than a second later, the entire structure began to pop and hissing as more than a dozen other panels folded away, revealing the internal working of the time gates. Most of the newly revealed accesses housed several breakers or other switches. Some held keypads. The last panel clicked open and Setsuna toured the artifact once more, chewing her lip.

_A manual re-fire of the temporal core wasn't exactly tops on my list of things to do_, she grumbled, finding her first target; a panel on the left front of the gate's super structure. Within sat a very large throw switched emblazoned with yellow and black stripes. She took a firm handhold. _Primary breaker 'A' emergency power…_ Pluto yanked down hard on the switched, locking it in placed with a heavy click. _…open._

Dim pink lighting flickered on within each of the service access points. _Emergency re-fire protocol step one complete_, Setsuna rolled her eyes. _Forty eight more to go_.

All told, the Princess of Pluto completed the operation in less than four hours, her hand hovering over the final switch at the three hour and forty seven minute mark. All six stand-by generator were hot and awaiting the re-fire, while temporal shielding hummed invisibly about the structure itself. Even the base logic hub twittered with activity now, awaiting the final safety release that would hand off reactivation control to their processors.

Even though her armor planetary bindings had done a fair job at healing her injuries, she was still sore, and this workout hadn't helped matters. She considered the small finger length switch with distain. If she had to flip another like it anytime within the near future, it would be too soon.

_Maybe the recalibration can wait a few days_, she mused silently, then flipped the final switch; completing step forty eight. A piercing alarm accompanied the action as the base logic hub took over, sounding a verbal warning.

_"Warning, re-fire immanent! Standby."_

Setsuna Meiou backed off about ten meters, watching with rapt attention as every service panel she had opened closed of its own accord. After all, the last time she had witnessed this particular event was damn near 15,000 years ago.

_"Generators one through six ramping to full power."  
"Bringing temporal shielding to maximum strength. "  
"Mapping slipstream."  
"Singularity forming, one hundred and sixty four gravities and rising."  
"Plotting optimal angular rotation."_

A slight smile formed as the Time Gates began to hum with power once more, steadily building in crescendo that she could feel within her bones. Not many people could claim to have watched the gates activate once, let alone twice. the thought also introduced a sliver of sorrow. _Of course, anybody that could is long dead anyway…_

_"Angular rotation, locked."  
"Five hundred and twelve gravities and rising."  
"Generators arming."  
"Primary safeties released."  
"One point five k gravities and rising."  
"Secondary safeties released."  
"Singularity approaching critical mass."  
"Tertiary safeties released."  
"Re-fire in five…four… three… two… one…"_

The Princess of Pluto was openly grinning now as what amounted to a weapon of mass destruction lit off within the dimensional bowls of the time gates, aiming six high energy tachyon lances into a singularity two thousand times more massive than the Earth. The six precisely aimed beams dissected the artificial black hole with ruthless efficiency, causing it to destabilize in an event that was nothing less than pure annihilation compressed within the space represented by something less than that of a one-yen piece.

Local space inside the gates withered under the assault, tearing at the quantum mechanics that held them together like a chainsaw chewing through tinfoil. Those bonds held for a moment before buckling outright, violently tearing open a hole in time itself. The event expanded quite abruptly before running headlong into the temporal shielding already in place, causing the barriers themselves to bow. The tempest within lashed impatiently at the barrier, causing space-time around the gates to bend. Had anybody else been present in that moment, they would have watched Setsuna's form and the gates blur, drift out of sync with reality for the next few seconds before the Gates themselves stabilized in a soft glow.

"_Re-fire successful. Temporal core online, reading nominal output_," The Time Gates reported with clinical efficiency. "_Recommend reactivation of Primary AI set to execute higher gate functions._"

_Not too damn bad for being fifteen thousand years out of practice_, Pluto decided smugly, flipping a strand of green hair from her face. "Process the AI."

Holographic script began writing itself into existence in a circular track surrounding the Gates, shadowing the myriad of instructions processing within the their faster than light data banks. Compiling the AI from a cold start was an inherently a lengthy process, giving The Mistress of Time more than enough time to contemplate matters further. Much as she wanted to conclude her first Time Stop survival test run a success-- that being measured by her survival -it had knocked that gates off-line. Not just completely off line, but put it out like a light. That alone was worrisome enough, not to mention excruciatingly painful.

_If I didn't know any better, I'd say my bindings to Pluto took a hit as well…_Setsuna focused on the ache that seemed to resonate in her very bones. The superficial wounds had healed already, meaning her ties to the planet were still intact, but the pain…

_No, can't risk that again_, she decided. The gates were simply too important to gamble on continuously being re-fired every time she might be required to stop time. Blasting open a temporal hole within the gates put enormous stress on the local time-space curve. That was, in fact, why she hadn't turned them off in nearly 15,000 years. While containment was all but assured, the odds of a breach and resulting destruction were more than enough to cause anybody pause. One botched re-fire and you could write off the entire southern arm of the galaxy.

That wasn't something Setsuna Meiou was looking to have on her resume.

No matter. She'd just have to roll back the changes when the gates came back to something resembling an operational status and take any future time stoppage like the Guardian she was, death and all. _At least the normal way is painless, _she groused as the Time Gates completed compiling the AI set. _But God, I hate going through puberty again._

_Beep!_

_"Kernel coming online."_

"And about damn time," The guardian huffed, watching as the sky around the Time Gates cleared of its meandering script and holographic logs. In their place an apparition stepped forward from the gates themselves, fading into existence like a phantom. It was a small girl with gray blue eyes, her cheerful smile framed by a silver crop of hair tied into a pair odangoes.

The vision turned Setsuna's blood run cold.

"What… What the _hell_ is this…?" She stumbled back a step, staring. Her emotions now ran the gamut of horror, fascination and confusion simultaneously as she took the holographic figure's details in. It was no more than a meter and a half high, clothed in a pink and white fuku with matching white kneed high heeled boots.

The girl bowed politely. "I am the Time Gates AI, version 1.43. How may I be of assistance Guardian Pluto?"

Pluto was completely speechless with the greeting, her cheek twitching. _Impossible. I couldn't have messed up that badly… _Of course, she knew exactly what she was looking at… An avatar of the late Queen Serenity at age seven imposed upon the gate AI. What she couldn't figure out was _why_ it was active. She had sealed it nearly thirteen thousand years ago simply because it brought back too many painful memories. And now it was active again?

The Senshi composed herself the best she could under the circumstances. "What… what are you doing here?"

The AI smiled and a spike of survivor's guilt pierced Setsuna's heart. "This AI became active at Guardian Pluto's request, logged April 16th , 1998, Oh-thirteen fifty hours."

"I _know_ that," Her face scrunched up in irritation as the construct forced her to clarify the inquiry. "What I do not understand is why you are _active _after I sealed you nearly thirteen millennia ago."

The AI-girl blinked, cocking her head. Her blue grey eyes began to reflect lines of data as she processed the claim. A second later, she shook her head. "I am sorry, Guardian Pluto. The Time Gates have been in visual assist mode since last power down."

"Which was only two days ago," The Mistress of Time frowned while a distinct feeling of trepidation began to creep along her spine. _Perhaps_ _more damage than I originally thought...?_

"Negative, Guardian Pluto," The child avatar of Queen Serenity shook her head again, her smile fading slightly. "My internal logs indicate last power down occurred December 15th, 8305 Silver Millennium, twenty forty two hours."

Setsuna was about ready to voice her denial when the date caught her complete and undivided attention. _8305 Silver Millennium… but that's… no… there's no way in hell…_ Her train of thought snapped back to the present with a renewed sense of urgency. "Who shut you down? Why?"

"You did, Guardian Pluto," The answer turned her gut to solid ice. The AI continued to pull data from its own logs even as Setsuna's unease grew. "A full shutdown was ordered in order to avoid compromising this unit to the infernal forces attacking Sol."

The words were a sledge hammer to Setsuna Meiou, causing her to waver slightly. "Im… Impossible…" The unreality of the entire situation muted most of her debilitating emotions so that she could ask the next question. "What… what is the status of the moon kingdom's assets?"

"One moment," The child returned and closed her eyes. Setsuna all but knew the answer anyway, but she had to find out just how screwed up this thing was. Blue-grey eyes popped open. "I am receiving no IFF from Moon Kingdom or allied forces on any frequency. Commercial and guard bands are silent. No carrier or data links from any planetary kingdoms present. Low band emissions detected emanating from Terra, though these do not correspond with Moon kingdom protocols."

The AI paused, as if weighing the incoming data. "Passive sensor sweeps indicate no traffic of any sort within three AUs, though I am hesitant to use my active arrays given the last tactical update available."

"There's nothing out there to worry about," Pluto mumbled, shaking her head numbly. "Nothing at all."

_Still, it's to be expected,_ she decided soberly. In fact, the only thing out of the ordinary was the AI itself and the fact that it listed the gates as being turned off by her _personally_ 15,000 years ago. That, and she wasn't appreciating the trip down memory lane. It all either pointed to massive data corruption or…

…She didn't want to think about the 'or' just yet.

"Whatever," She frowned. Either way, the gates appeared to be usable and it was time to put them to use. "Open a channel to Ami."

"Reference 'Ami' unknown."

"Of course not," Setsuna sighed at the girl. "You haven't been on for the last 15,000 years, haven't you? Open a channel to _Guardian_ Mercury."

The AI shook its head. "Unable, secure uplink not available. Guardian's last known location was--"

"_Earth_," Setsuna ground her teeth and spelled it out for the avatar. "Connect to the Mercury data link on Earth. There's only _one_."

"Affirmative," The AI complied, then frowned. "The remote link you are referencing is either inactive or not present, Guardian Pluto."

The Mistress of Time was at a loss for words. _Just how badly damaged is this thing?_ She sighed. _Looks like the hard way… _"We'll connect directly to the Mercury computer, then. Use anything in Earth's orbit as a relay if necessary, but I need communications and I need it _now_."

* * *

**O**f the handful of people privy to the knowledge that the Time Gates even existed, most thought they were based somewhere on Pluto. There were a few holdouts for its sister moon Charon, but both camps agreed that they were probably buried, and buried _deep_ in order to prevent their destruction, or worse yet; capture. These few souls weren't the only ones holding to this belief concerning the Time Gates and their alleged super-secret location.

The enemy felt this way as well, and when the time came to attack Pluto, they did so mercilessly. In fact, it was a sobering piece of trivia that Beryl's demonic forces landed with ten times the strength they had on other planets in the hopes that they could capture the artifact for themselves. It was also a fact that the Moon Kingdom used to their supreme advantage, turning what would otherwise be another planetary invasion into an offensive quagmire for the invaders. The demons searched and the Moon kingdom was there at every turn, bleeding them as they sacked the planet.

By the time Beryl had tired of searching for the gates, her forces had been depleted by nearly fifteen percent in the landing action alone; not including the losses incurred in their battles to maintain orbital supremacy. In the end, she ordered Pluto die by fire, authorizing one of the most comprehensive orbital bombardments of the war in order to ensure that the time gates- wherever they were hidden -were reduced to little more than radioactive dust. It was a trend she would carry on to the other planets as well.

The thrall Beryl- and that handful of knowledgeable people -would have undoubtedly been dismayed to learn that the time gates were neither stationed on Pluto or its sister satellite Charon at all. Instead, they floated within the cloaked void of the double planet's barycenter, secretly hidden from prying eyes through combination of gravimetric distortion and sophisticated cloaking technology. Within that veil was a bubble of atmosphere, artificial gravity and the Gates themselves.

Fifteen thousand years ago, they would have been manned at all times by not only the Senshi of Pluto, but a platoon of elite guards with enough firepower to make a modest sized destroyer question what it was doing there in the first place.

Today, it held only Setsuna Meiou and a bottle of sake.

The emerald haired guardian sat upon black nothingness, leaning against the framework of the gates while considering the bottle in hand. Blood shot red eyes pondered the clear liquid within for a moment before tipping it back one more for another chug. The AI avatar of young Queen Serenity watched the scene with dismay.

"I am sure it would be unnecessary to remind you that partaking of alcoholic beverages within the Time Gate's boundaries is strictly prohibited?"

"Feh," Setsuna snorted, throwing the near empty bottle at and through the avatar, where it tumbled harmless into the void. "You can file a formal complaint with my superior."

The girl frowned. As of this moment, Guardian Pluto had no superior. In fact, _she_ was the superior, given the fact that she was the sole survivor of the fallen Silver Millennium. The Mercury computer had remained active all the way up through the invasion and subsequent bombardment of the moon, receiving data until the very end as channels dropped out one by one, like silent death knells.

And that was when things got decidedly odd, in the AI's opinion.

The demonic fleet encircled the moon, bombarding its fixed defenses mercilessly before landing troops. By the time the first demon set foot on lunar soil, the environment had been irrevocably damaged by radiation and fallout, while spent mushroom clouds drifted across an orange red horizon. But still, the queen fought, facing down the infernal host with the remainder of her Senshi. Her guardians fought, buying their queen enough time to face Beryl before falling themselves.

In the end, Serenity struck the demonic thrall down with a lance of white magic, blasting a hole clean though the Terran Queen's chest with vaporization following shortly thereafter. It was also Serenity's last living act, using all of the Silver Crystal's remaining power and the last of her life force to breach the woman's demonic protections.

"You killed her, Serenity…." The avatar turned back to Pluto, who was now burying her head in her knees, chocking on half sobs. "You killed her and doomed the future…"

And that was the oddity, the Gate observed passively. The Mercury archives clearly showed Guardian Pluto in the defense of her queen. In fact, she was the last to fall in that last, desperate hour to buy Serenity her final lethal act. By all rights, The Guardian of Pluto shouldn't have been sitting before her now, let alone getting properly drunk against her superstructure. Mercury listed her as deceased, killed in action and had the visual records to prove it.

Odd, but largely irrelevant. Upon learning of her deceased status, she had run a complete sensor scan on _this_ Pluto in order to determine her authenticity. Everything was a one hundred percent match. Voice print, DNA, planetary bindings… For all intents and purposes, she was Setsuna Meiou and would retain complete access to her systems as such. Her emotional state, however…

"The threat appears to have passed, Guardian Pluto," It offered, hoping to stabilize her administrator's mood. "I am detecting no--"

"The _threat_," Setsuna's head snapped up suddenly, glaring at the girl. "Is alive and well."

"Indeed?"

"Indeed," Pluto bit, rising to her feet in a somewhat unsteady manner. Still, it would take more than a bottle of aged sake to bring her anything close to the vicinity of drunk. She'd work on _that_ later. "Serenity killed the host, not her puppeteer. That goddamn solar parasite is still out there, somewhere."

The AI mulled over this new information. "My last tactical update did not include this data."

"Of course not," Setsuna frowned. "Set up for a quantum variance scan, on me specifically."

"Scanning," The avatar child noted, then cocked her head with a curious expression. "Done. I am noting an electron rotation variance of seven to fifteen degrees outside of established norms."

Setsuna acknowledge the results with a grunt, all but knowing the answer to her next request. "Extrapolate _why_."

"Your electron variance does not appear to share the same quantum standard for matter native to this dimension," The child frowned. "Lacking a clear precedent, I can only theorize that you are not native to this planular domain."

"Figures," She grumbled in an acerbic tone. "I don't _need_ this shit."

"The odds of matter surviving any give planular crossover, however, are--"

"Astronomically long, I know," Setsuna shook her head. "Alright, listen up. It's time for that tactical update you're requesting." She paused, ensuring she had the AI's complete and undivided attention.

"Mankind in deep shit. We have at least one immensely powerful and incredibly lethal adversary left over from the fall of the Silver Millennium. Its name is Metaria and her very existence will instigate Earth's demise via a global Ice Age. There is no stopping it. Metaria is in turn directed by a forth dimensional entity known as Chaos residing in the Galactic Cauldron."

Setsuna paused, organizing her thoughts briefly before continuing. "We may or may not have to worry about Mistress Nine and Pharaoh Ninety, both of which will attempt to subjugate the Earth as well. Maybe Queen Nehellenia too. With the past and future screwed all to hell, we probably won't have to worry about the Black Moon Clan, at least."

Chibi-Serenity absorbed the information, nodding. "And you were able to deal with these threats?"

"Yes," It was Pluto's turn to frown now. "But where I'm from, Serenity reincarnated her daughter and the other guardians with the last of the Silver Crystal's power, allowing them to engage the enemies of the here and now. _Here_…" She licked her lips with nervous anticipation. "Here, they never came forward. Here, they're all dead. _Truly_ dead."

* * *

**S**etsuna Meiou walked into the Fuchu branch of The Bank of Tokyo like she owned the place. Lavender high heels clicked as she walked through the lobby and found herself a teller, their sound effectively drawing the attention of any male within earshot while her figure did the rest. While the cut of her business jacket and skirt would be considered modest, they hugged her body in a way that enticed. The package not only failed miserably to hide her curves, but her ample bosom seemed to strain against the white blouse.

Her flowing emerald hair and red eyes were noticed almost as an afterthought.

The woman singled out a free teller and walked up to her, returning the pleasant smile she already was being offered.

"May I help you, Miss?"

"Of course," Setsuna obliged in a tone that belied the sucking emotional hole in her chest. "I am here to finalize a transaction I made yesterday."

"I can assist you with that," The teller smiled, typing into the keyboard. "What sort of transaction was it?"

"An electronic transfer into my new account," She answered easily.

"Name?"

"Meiou, Setsuna. Account number 7210601**,**" She nodded and the teller entered the information. A few seconds later, the account was retrieved. The female behind the counter opened her mouth to say something, but stopped, obviously unsure of what she was reading from the screen. Her customer smiled knowingly. "I assure you the amount is correct."

"Of…of course Meiou-san," The teller recovered from her shock, blinking. "One moment while I request a manager to assist you further."

The Mistress of Time watched as the teller stood up from her desk and crossed the bank floor at a brisk pace, finding a smartly dressed man hovering over a stack of paperwork. The teller bent down and whispered something in his ear and the two conversed for a moment before the man- presumably her manager -typed a few lines into his computer. The look on his face was nearly as priceless as the teller's.

The manager, in turn, stood up and found a door to the back of the workspace, ducking into it quickly while her teller returned all smiles. The woman pulled out a placard labeled 'closed' and set it out on the counter in front of her. "If you'll please follow me, Meiou-san, it will be my pleasure to assist you while my manager drafts the necessary documents."

She followed the teller as the young lady led her to across the lobby and over to a more isolated section of the floor where a set of leather chairs and dark oaken table awaited her. The woman whispered to another and for the next ten minutes, Setsuna Meiou had her own personal servant feeding her fine cheese and crackers with warm sake and pleasant conversation while documents were prepared.

_No doubt there is more to it than documentation_, the Emerald haired woman chuckled to herself. The branch manager was undoubtedly checking up on the authenticity of the electronic transfer, tracing it all the way back to the Swiss Bank Account under her name. If he was particularly industrious- which he undoubtedly would be given the yen involved -he would call the bank directly for confirmation. They would find an account with a sizable amount of US currency from which the transaction was drawn upon and even digital scans of her signature and the documents used to open the Swiss account. She would then be asked to provide photo IDs and signatures with which to compare before completely satisfying the process. She could, of course, present without difficulty.

Having the most advanced hardware ever developed by man at ones disposal helped as well.

With the Time Gates and Mercury Computer at her disposal, it was child's play to breach any secure network on the planet, create an account, fill it with electronic funds and conjure the digital 'paperwork' to back it up. In fact, the process had been _harder _before the turn of the century when actual hard currency was required to fund an account, not simply ones and zeros. _Not that it was particularly hard to spatially shift the entire contents of a vault to my own personal stash_, she chortled internally. 15,000 years of duty taught one a few tricks along the way.

She took another sip of sake and watched as a smiling man in a conservative business suit made his way past the secretary's section. He was an older gentleman and sported a light tan, no doubt acquired by artificial means, while the cut of his suit and gold Rolex all but screamed 'branch manager' to Setsuna as he strolled on over. Her attendant collected the tray of appetizers and vacated the area so that the adults could conduct their business. The graying businessman reached her lounge and bowed deeply. Another businessman appeared beside him just long enough to drop a small stack of paperwork onto the fine table before disappearing back to anominity

"Meiou-san?" The older man smiled, "I am the Fuchu branch manager. I'll be happy to assist you in finalizing your transaction."

* * *

**I**t had been a long day, in Setsuna's opinion. She strolled through her new penthouse, inspecting the decorator's work with passing interest. It would still take a full week for Hiroko-san to complete the Mediterranean themed interior, but for now, it was livable. still, it was amazing how much you could get done in one day when money was no object, and her designer had done her best to accommodate. The guardian found her open bottle of sake with six more of its cousins and poured another round into the temporarily empty glass.

Within the last forty eight hours, she had lived, died, lived and found out that everybody she had loved died fifteen millennia ago without reprieve. Before, she was the last survivor in name only and had friends to bear that load with. Today, she had nobody.

Today, she _really_ _was_ the last survivor of the Silver Millennium.

Setsuna tipped the glass back and emptied it of the clear liquid, refilling it once more. Her gut smoldered for a moment before lapsing into pleasant warmth. She had wanted to stay at her old place down in Juuban, but found it rented out to an elderly couple that certainly were not the Outers. Of course, she had more money than God now and could probably buy the entire block out from under them, but didn't have the heart. Besides, she didn't know if she could live in the place anymore.

_Haruka… Michiru… Hotaru…_

"God, even Small Lady," The emerald princess whispered with the sudden realization. No Usagi. No Mamoru. No Chibi-Usa. It was that simple. She downed the next glass without hesitation. Setsuna sank to the red-brown slate tiling of the kitchen, pulling a bottle with her. A drinking glass would be a hindrance at this point, and she tipped the bottle directly into her mouth.

_What the fuck am I going to do now…?_ She thought bitterly as the liquid fire settled. There were at least two major adversaries looking to either own or destroy the Earth, with a potential third and forth depending on how the cards fell…. And there was _nobody_ to stop them. Sure, she could take them on herself, but her job description ensured she was on the look out for the best path to the long term viability of the future. One woman alone left too much to chance. She was good… _fifteen millennia_ worth of good, but random chance was better. The Senshi provided for that redundancy while she watched their back at the gates. Now they were gone… At least in _this_ world they were.

She tipped the bottle back again, emptying it. Her hand reached back up for the counter as she discarded the spent cylinder, slapping around blindly until her hand came into contact with an unopened container; whereupon it was seized and opened for consumption.

Another drink.

_Maybe some of the Senshi came forward anyway… _She hoped, even though the analytical portion of her brain had already calculated the odds. Without Serenity's targeted reincarnation spell, the chances of having any one Senshi born within this particular timeframe were so astronomically long that they were barely even worth noting. Even if a reincarnation had occurred- a big if in and of itself -it had an untargeted window of fifteen thousand years to happen, not counting the future. Still, it was a chance. A last, desperate chance.

"Tomorrow…" She mumbled as the alcohol finally began to blur her thoughts. "Tomorrow I'll look for the girls…"

The world faded to merciful black two bottles later.

* * *

_**E**__ggs, butter, water…_ Watanuki Kimihiro silently inventoried the various ingredients on the counter before him, absently unrolling the top of a fat bag of flour while the other hand fumbled with the oven dial, rotating it around to the desired temperature. The bespeckled teen grimaced, tightening his apron. _Yūko_ was hungry. _Yūko_ had a sweet tooth. Therefore _Watanuki_ was making a cake.

_Again._

He scowled openly, giving the mixture of flour and water in the silver bowl he bore a fierce stirring. _Crack the eggs, separate the whites. Sugar. More stirring._ Something black bounced up upon the countertop from the edge of his vision, causing Watanuki to turn. There, he found a black basket ball sized creature sniffing around his ingredients.

"Hey! Get away!" He wielded the stirring spoon with menace, drawing the Mokona's attention away from the preparation. It eyed his bowl eagerly. Watanuki took a step back, clearly realizing the creature's intentions. "You wouldn't."

One of its long ears twitched and it took a small bounce forward with what could only be interpreted as a mischievous smile. The black haired teen cradled the bowl protectively now. "You won't _dare…_"

Another bounce forward called his bluff. Watanuki set the bowl behind him and brought the flour caked mixing spoon to bear on the little black blob. A staring match commenced as the teen sighted his opponent down the line of the wooden spoon, where two mischievous eyes stared back. The blue jewel on its forehead shimmered as the Mokona shifted its weight ever so slightly.

"If you think I'm going through all this trouble agai--HEY!" The black marshmallow took that moment to leap in, targeting not the half made cake behind Watanuki, but the very spoon in his hands. Its mouth gapped in a comedic manner before swallowing the spoon- and hand by proximity -whole.

"Eww! Get off! GET OFF!"

Pulling the Mokona's ear seemed to do little to determine it as it sucked on the spoon eagerly. The bespeckled boy released it to it's own devices and pulled his own hand away with a sucking 'splurch!'

_Pa-toohie!_

Watanuki Kimihiro barely even noticed Yūko's pet eject the spoon completely cleaned of cake batter as his cheek twitched. Slime dripped away from his hand, prompting him to grab a nearby rag and scrub it furiously clean.

"I swear…"

A small tongue licked the Mokona's lips clean and it eagerly retargeted the bowl, but paused as the kitchen door clicked open to reveal the pale, lithe woman Watanuki knew all too well. She was, after all, the reason he was slaving away over the oven and cake batter. Lazy red eyes and an impish smile considered him as she leaned through the doorway. The boy's disgust faded into minor irritation upon noticing her and that insufferable amused cat grin of hers.

"I don't suppose you can take this," He motioned over to the Mokona, "_thing_ away so I can--"

"Tea for two."

Watanuki blinked with the interruption, then rolled his eyes. "Sure. Right. After I set the cake—"

"It can wait," Yūko Ichihara waved the objection away. "Our guest is more important."

"Guest?" The teen mimed. He had been so busy in the kitchen that he hadn't even known…

"Tea for two. Green is fine," Yūko simply nodded, then cocked her head thoughtfully. Black strands of long hair cascaded down with the movement. "And some of those Pirouline… She enjoys those too, if I recall."

With that, Yūko was gone from the door, leaving the student alone with his thoughts. Guests seeking out Yūko were usually the harbingers of the strange and unexpected, which said a lot about the types who usually came seeking her… _assistance_. A slurping sound bought Watanuki's attention back to the present, his jaw dropping as he watched the black sentient marshmallow with ears lick the last of his cake batter clean from the bowl.

It grinned back at him from inside the shiny silver container and the cook's cheek began twitching once more. "That… was uncalled for."

With the cake a loss, he turned to assembling a tea setting, which the Mokona simply contented itself to watch. The teen cast a glare back at it for good measure every once in a while to ensure its good behavior, though the measure appeared to be entirely unnecessary. Two tea cups, their dishes and several Pirouline later, he was ready, adeptly opening the kitchen door with one hand and balancing the steaming silver platter in the other. Once clear of the door he found Yūko lounging on a cushion, chatting pleasantly with… Watanuki nearly stumbled.

It wasn't the woman's striking green hair or her beauty that caused him pause. He recovered, from the break, taking in the details as he stepped up to the pair, setting the tray down on the small table between them. She was definitely a beauty, but then, Yūko wasn't operating on a deficit of looks either. The lavender suit, skirt combination was also striking on the visitor. It looked good on her and was a nice change from Yūko's predominantly gothic fashion statement, but that wasn't what had taken his attention either.

It was the eyes.

Red eyes. Like Yūko's. Nor did it help that she wore nearly the same, enigmatic smile that Yūko seemed to sport daily. The visitor nodded graciously upon receiving his tea, then fingered one of the confections.

"You remembered." She smiled, but left the Pirouline unmolested. Instead, she took the fine china tea glass in hand, blew the steam away gently and sipped.

"You would expect I forget?" Yūko countered easily, prompting the emerald haired woman to shrug.

"It's been a while."

"Indeed," Yūko sipped her own tea. Her enigmatic smile faded slightly. "A little far away from home, aren't we?"

"I could say the same about you, Yūko-chan," Watanuki contented himself to remain in the background and watch the strangeness unfold. The fact that he hadn't been sent out of the room yet was telling enough. He was supposed to see this, unless he missed his guess, but…

…Yūko-_chan?_

"I did warn her," Yūko shook her head, apparently taking the affectionate reference in stride. "And you as well, if I remember correctly."

"You did," The guest conceded. "But then, none of us had much of a choice back in those days."

"True, true," The student watched the green haired woman took a small bite of her Pirouline stick as they sat in companionable silence. _What the hell is it with these two?_ "I could help you get back. For a price, of course."

That stopped any further musings on Watanuki 's part cold. She had just offered to help solve a problem, a problem for which payment would be exacted. He had seen this exact scenario play out too many times to count now, a scenario in which he himself had bought into …Twice, no less.

"I know how much your assistance costs," The woman simply shook her head. "I'll find my own way, thank you."

_She… knows?_

_"_Of course," Yūko inclined her head, taking no insult from the dismissal. "Then how may I help you, Sestuna-chan?"

The woman known as Setsuna took another sip of her tea, organizing her thoughts. "I would like to know 'why'?"

"Ah," Watanuki's boss smiled slightly. The familiarity between the two was getting downright eerie. "Why you are here and not there?" Setsuna nodded, then cast a wary glance directly at Watanuki, causing Yūko to smile. "Don't mind him. He's supposed to be here."

"Indeed," She arched a skeptical eyebrow at the boy, but turned back to Yūko. "Hitsuzen, I suppose."

The black haired mistress simply nodded. "The toy we built is a grain of sand between the gears of fate and destiny; tolerated only insofar as to not make a nuisance of itself." She paused, gaining a thoughtful countenance. "Tell me, Setsuna-chan… What did you do to become more than a mere nuisance?"

Setsuna's gaze never wavered. "I cheated death."

"Ah," Yūko stated simply. "That would do it, I guess." the pair sipped at their tea for another minute before she continued. "Hitsuzen does not like to be cheated. There is a price to be paid for everything; a balance to be exacted. I imagine you are lucky to even be here… or perhaps it is not luck at all. Regardless, the imbalance you created _there_ doesn't exist _here_, since you did not either."

Watanuki 's brain began to contort with all the misplaced referencing.

Setsuna nodded with the observation, understanding perfectly. The Silver Millennium had fallen here, just as it had there. But here, nobody had survived. Nobody was left to counter the forces that were all but assuredly waiting in the shadows, biding their time. And now _here _she was._ Here_, a hole was left for her to fill._ Hitsuzen, indeed_.

"I see."

Yūko offered her own unspoken sympathies, pulling out a small, folded piece of paper from the breast of her lacey black dress. She slid it across the table to her counterpart, not taking her fingers off of it. The paper looked as if it had been haphazardly torn from a page. "You will read this when it is time, not before."

Only once Setsuna had nodded did she pull her fingers away, allowing the woman to take the folded slip and pocket it within her lavender business jacket without looking at its contents. The emerald haired woman smiled, taking a final sip of tea as if cued by an unspoken agreement. "It was good seeing you again, Yūko-chan."

"And you."

Setsuna stood up from her pillow without a further word, allowing the twins Moro and Maru to lead her to the door. Watanuki stared as the woman exited the establishment, then stared down at Yūko. Curiosity was all but radiating from his being now.

"Who_ was_ that?"

"_That_," She turned a lazy smile upon her retainer. "was a Chrono Witch."

* * *

"**R**einitialize bank seven-aught-nine, prepare for insertion." The Princess of Pluto detailed, staring at the Time Gates and its AI ward. The small girl before her brought up a holographic representation of the data set.

"Bank seven-zero-nine reinitialized, data probe ready for slipstream insertion."

_Hitsuzen… What a pain in the ass_, The Senshi groused. Occam's Razor. The simplest explanation is more than likely the correct one. Either she just happened to survive a one in a billion planular domain cross over and end up here, or… "Execute."

"Opening slipstream window." Externally, nothing changed within the Time Gate's shroud. Internally, however, the child AI had just opened the temporal shielding protecting them ever so slightly. "Contact. Point three. Point five. Point eight. Insertion nominal, mapping space time curve theta-Zee-five-oh-nine-seven-alpha by eight-oh-Omega-Zee-seven-seven."

"Time to completion?"

"Seven hours, thirty five minutes." The avatar of Queen Serenity, age seven, reported dutifully. Setsuna nodded.

…_Or _she happened to have been shunted through space time to exactly where and when she was needed, a place where she and the other Senshi did not exist. A world that might not otherwise have a chance in hell of surviving if shit hit the fan like it was supposed to. _So which side of Occam's Razor did I fall upon? Random chance or Yūko's destiny? _

_Not that it matters much,_ Setsuna frowned as data script was conjured in the air above her, constantly updating around the gates. She was here and the same one in a billion odds that kept her alive weren't likely to do so again short of divine intervention or taking Yūko-chan up on her offer. _Can't count on divine intervention, and a wish…_

…_Yeah, the wish would work assuming I were willing to part with my fondest possession and leave the inhabitance of this reality hanging out to dry._

"Damned if I do, damned if I don't." Setsuna snorted sardonically aloud.

The AI turned away from its script monitoring. "What was that, Guardian Pluto?"

Setsuna shook her head. "Nothing. Just commenting on as apt a job description for 'Queen of the Underworld' if there ever was."

The child cocked its head curiously, then emoted recognition. "I see. The mythology of your mantle's namesake."

"Unfortunately," She confirmed, turning back to the hologram. "Speaking of--"

_Beep._

"Call routing through from your apartment, priority flagged," The AI supplied. "Would you like me to relay it through?"

"Do it." Setsuna ordered. The air clicked slightly as copper wire communications were routed through a super luminal tunnel to form a real time communications bridge with her in Pluto's orbit.

"Hello, Meiou-san?"

The Senshi nodded to the air. "Speaking."

"Ah, this is Mister Soto with Einburg, Yamoto and Greene," The young voice stated, its audio carrying over the tinny features of copper transmission. "We would like to report an update in your case if now is a good time? You asked us to inform you as soon as possible if we had any information."

She cast a quick glance over to the child avatar.

"Twenty one thirty two hours, local." It supplied. Setsuna nodded for the benefit of the disembodied caller as she quickly judged whether she should or should not be too tired to take the call.

"Go ahead."

"We found a girl matching the description of number two," Soto reported. "The name is different, but she is a dead matching nearly every other aspect. Also, she seems to be surrounded by strange incidence as you advised she might as well as displaying feats of extraordinary strength. The personality is off from what you described for number two, but she's the closest so far."

"Excellent work, Mister Soto," Setsuna complimented with faint smile. Maybe Hitsuzen hadn't screwed her over as badly as she had first thought. "Convey my appreciation to your superiors as well. Should this lead prove useful, I'll be sure wire a bonus into the account."

"Thank you, Meiou-san," The voice took on a slightly excited pitch. _And right it should_, she thought. She was paying them more than enough money to be very thorough and very enthusiastic in their investigations. "I assume you would like to retain our services for the others?"

"Of course," She agreed. "Please continue searching for the duration of the contract."

"We'll have the requisite file ready for you tomorrow morning then," Sato reported eagerly. "Have a good evening, Meiou-san."

The line clicked.

"Connection terminated." The Serenity avatar reported, only to find her master already deep in thought.

_The name is minor_, she decided, taking the call point by point. The personality was a bit more troubling, but that didn't make it a complete write off, especially given the fact that that she was physically an exact match and surrounded by strange phenomenon. _I'll get the details tomorrow_, she decided. Still, it was at least a step in the right direction. Better than anything she had so far. Einburg, Yamoto and Greene, was merely one of ten private investigation firms she was paying exorbitant amounts of money to in order to track down the girls, at least until the time gates were recalibrated._ The extraordinary strength could be a sign of unconscious usage of her planetary bindings…_

Setsuna Meiou smiled. With any luck, she would be having a chat with Ami Mizuno some time tomorrow.

* * *

**R**eality danced within the confines of an anonymous alleyway just off the main artery of the market district in lower Nerima. The person stepping out of the mirror like distortion was none other than the mistress of time herself. The flat of her pumps touched the dirt and gravel of the back street while the rest of her body cleared the distortion with practiced ease. Today she had dispensed with the business look entirely in favor of a white sleeveless blouse and simple light green slacks to offset her hair. A helical gold bracelet adorned her right hand while a gold choker rested easily at her collar bone.

The portal wavered for a moment longer, then evaporated like a trick of heat and sunlight, leaving her alone to consult the manila folder in her right hand. She opened it up, studying the contents and photograph clipped within. _Even I have to admit, the resemblance is uncanny_, she decided, fingering the picture. She browsed the profile once more before stepping out onto the main sidewalk. The grades she was producing weren't what she had come to expect from Ami, but then, this was a different plane entirely. If things were exactly the same, she would be surprised.

Setsuna Meiou oriented herself west down the sidewalk as her imbedded link fed her the navigation instructions. She wanted to arrive close, but not too close. Experience could be a harsh mistress at times, and the Guardian of Time had learned a long time ago that you just didn't arrive directly on site and take the unexpected happenings there on the chin.

So she walked, enjoying the warm spring day and the sights of the quaint suburb around her. It was a nice change from the void of the time gates and their incessant recalibrations. Last night's session was only the first of many more to come, a problem exacerbated by the fact that they had not merely suffered an unexpected shutdown, but were now 15,000 years out of calibration.

It was a nice break.

And hope.

If one of the girls had reincarnated, a second might have as well. While she doubted fate would be kind enough to reincarnate all of them, anything was better than nothing to work with at this point. Ten minutes of silent contemplation and an easy walk brought her to the gates of a dojo. The Mistress of Time read the placard that swayed gently in the breeze.

_'Tendo's Martial Arts, School of Indiscriminate Grappling.'_

A thin, green eyebrow arched as she read another wooden sign sitting next to the gates themselves.

_'To defeat owner in savage combat, use rear door.'_

"Indeed," Setsuna murmured to herself before giving the bell hanging from the gate's archway a couple yanks. The bell's pitch echoed through the streets. _Not exactly where I would expect to find Ami… Makato, maybe. Possibly even Rei…_

Further musings were cut short by the light crunch of gravel, the gate swinging open shortly thereafter to reveal a woman in her early twenties, by Setsuna's estimate. She wore a conservative powered blue dress and a kind smile. Waves of rich brown hair framed the gentle face studying her.

_Not_ the guardian of Mercury.

"May I help you?" The girl asked kindly, prompting Setsuna's own easy smile.

"Yes, I'm here to see Akane Tendo." She pulled the name of her target from memory. She had gone over the file in her hand more than enough times to memorize every last page. In fact, the only reason she still carried it was to make it look as if she was visiting in an official capacity.

The girl before her blinked, as if she had been expecting different to come out of her mouth. "Of course, come right this way. And who may I tell her is visiting?"

"Meiou, Setsuna," The Mistress of Time replied in kind. "I'm with the Tokyo Board of Education."

She was. Any computer would confirm the fact.

"I see," The girl was all smiles now, any trace of doubt evaporating with the explanation. Such a trusting soul. "I'm her sister, Kasumi. Please, right this way, Meiou-san."

The Tendo sister admitted Setsuna, and the pair walked the short space across the courtyard and up to the house, sliding out of their shoes upon entry. The sister paused just inside the hallway, calling up the stairs on the right. "Akane! Somebody is here to see you!" The girl turned back to her Guest. "She'll be right down."

Akane Tendo stepped out of her room, peering over the banister down onto the first floor where Kasumi stood; next to her… The youngest Tendo's cheek twitched ever so slightly. The woman next to her sister was beautiful and there was only one thing beautiful women visiting the Tendo dojo wanted. Her ire translated into her footsteps as she took the stairs heavily, none to pleased with yet another fiancée for Ranma. She held the woman with a stony countenance, frowning as she cleared the last step.

"If you're another fiancée, the pervert isn't home yet."

The emerald haired woman blinked and Kasumi winced, cutting in before her sister could dig herself any deeper. "Akane, this is Meiou-san. She's with the _Tokyo Board of Education_."

A confused look enveloped the girl's face, mirroring Setsuna's own feelings internally. _Such hostility… Fiancee? Pervert? _A sinking feeling began to develop in her stomach, but she carried through the doubt with practiced ease. "That is correct. I'm Meiou, Setsuna. You are Tendo, Akane, correct?"

The confusion blinked away as the girl suddenly realized that the name Ranma had yet to be mentioned. This woman wasn't here about Ranma… _She's here for me!_ Akane's face suddenly burst into an eager smile, bowing abruptly. "Oh! I thought you were here for somebody else! What can I do for you, Meiou-san?"

Setsuna frowned internally at the liquidity of the girl's demeanor. _Not like Ami at all…_ She forced a pleasant smile regardless and opened the file she had been carrying for show, as if to consult it for vital information. "The Tokyo Board of Education has compiled a list of students that are eligible for a new theater scholarship. I'd like to ask you a few questions to see if you would be eligible for the program."

Akane Tendo's mouth suddenly formed a silent 'oh', then transformed into an even brighter smile. Seeing the situation was well in hand, Kasumi excused herself as the pair stepped into the living room. Akane offered the woman a seat at the centerpiece table. "I'll answer them the best I can."

The Mistress of Time nodded amiably, pulling out a pen as if to jot notes. "Some of the questions may seem unusual, but I assure you the board of education takes them quite seriously. They mainly revolve around a playwright's… _mental flexibility_."

"Of course!" Akane nodded eagerly. It made perfect sense.

"Very well, then," Setsuna opened up the folder ever so officially. "Have you ever had an experience where you thought you could be somebody else? Perhaps play a different role than that of your every day life?"

"Well…" Akane chewed over the question a bit, "Sometimes I imagine myself as a princess…" Setsuna cocked her head. _Could she be--_ "Of course, that's not hard to imagine given how many people have tried to kidnap me."

"Kidnap you?" The Senshi of Pluto was blinking now.

"It didn't used to be so bad until Ranma arrived," Her sunny countenance faded with the derisive tone. "Baka."

_Okay then…_ She moved on to the next question of her mental interview, perplexed. "Have you ever cosplayed? Perhaps as a magical girl?"

"Not really. Most of my acting is with the Furikan Theater Club," The Tendo shrugged, then paused hopefully. "Should I? Do you think it will help my chances?"

"Sure, why not," Setsuna returned absently, moving on. Kasumi stepped in that moment, placing a cup of tea before her and Akane. The emerald haired woman nodded graciously. "Do you ever have strange dreams? Perhaps those of a past life? Heroines? Monsters?"

Akane thought on it a moment. "No, not really."

The guardian took a sip of tea. The outlook for wasn't looking so good for this girl being Ami's reincarnation. She set it down, her smile belying none of her doubts. "It's important for actors and playwrights to have special abilities. What sort do you have that might make you a better scholarship candidate than others I may interview?"

"Oh!" She piped suddenly, eager to gain an edge over the other mythical candidates. "I'm an _excellent_ martial artist, which helps my flexibility, and am very strong." She ticked the points off on her hand as she continued. "I'm a very good cook as well and can sew…"

"Mmmhmmm," Setsuna nodded agreeable, scribbling onto sheet of paper within the manila folder in hand. It was a doodle of a face with sharp teeth for a mouth. "And have you been in any strange situations that forced you to adapt contrary to your normal personality? Improvising is an important skill for any actor, of course."

"Lots of times!" Akane nodded vigorously, her cheer turned sour as her face scrunched up again. "Most of it is due to Ranma, though. I mean, there's no end to the trouble he gets me into! Ooh, he makes me so--" She stopped abrubtly, noticing her interviewer staring at her skeptically. "I mean, yes there are lots of situations like that."

"I see." Setsuna replied neutrally, adding a stickman's body to the face in place of real notes. _Well, this is a bust, _she decided, closing the folder entirely. Not only was she _not_ Ami, but self deluded concerning her ability; possibly to cover some form of inferiority complex. _Heck, I might as well be interviewing this Ranma character_ _given her obsession with him,_ she sighed, standing up.

Regardless, she smiled for the benefit of the girl. "Thank you for your time, Miss Tendo. That was all the questions I have."

"Oh, it's no problem at all!" She smiled happily. "Do you think my chances are good?"

Setsuna nodded. "I would say you're number one out of all the candidates, but the decision isn't mine to make. I'll file your responses with the Board and they'll make a determination. The process usually takes about six months."

"Thank you very much!" Akane effused, bolstered by her chances of success. Her enthusiasm might not have been so great if she realized there were no other candidates for Setsuna's nonexistent scholarship.

"The pleasure is mine," Setsuna returned graciously. "Much as I would like to stay, I have another interview to take. If you will excuse me?"

Akane was more than happy to comply, leading the woman to the door where she retrieved her flats, sliding them on with considerably less hope than she had taking them off. The door opened and she stepped out into open air. _Ah well… Maybe one of the other agencies--_

"DIE, CASSANOVA!"

Edged weaponry flashing out of the sun immediately caught the Senshi's eye. She watched as it streaked around a black haired teen who effortlessly evaded the salvo with a simple hop-slide combination. Setsuna tracked the stream of weapons back to their source, a white robed boy with long hair perched atop the property wall. Another round of blades emerged from the wide openings of his sleeves.

"Uhg!" The girl next to her snorted irritably. "Not again!"

"Come on, Mousse! I told you I didn't--!" The focus of the bespecled boy's rage protested, only to be cut off as the wall under his attack promptly exploded in a violent shower of dust and debris. The white robed boy was quickly engulfed and Setsuna watched as a new teen stepped out the cloud.

"IVE SEEN HELL BECAUSE OF YOU, RANMA!"

The boy in question- presumably Ranma, from her standpoint -affected a defeated slump and shook his head. "I don't have time for this!"

"You'll make time!"

That was his only warning as the new boy in the yellow tunic rushed forward, closing the distance at high speed while pulling the bandanna from his head. Even though he flung the clothe disks at off angle trajectories, they arced around, converging on his target even as he closed to hand to hand range.

"I'm sorry you had to see this, Meiou-san," Akane shook her head, barely controlling her own irritation. "If he didn't pick on poor Ryoga so much…"

Ranma rolled clear of the intersecting bandanna scythes and began evading Ryoga's combinations, ducking inside his guard and deflecting whatever he couldn't avoid. The Mistress of Time watched as the pigtailed boy unleashed a punishing blow to the boys gut, who in turn shrugged it off and continued to fight. Meanwhile, Mousse had finally dug himself out of the crater Ryoga's entry had created, flinging edged weaponry indiscriminately at the brawling pair.

"…Or hang all over Shampoo like a pervert," She continued while the fight gained intensity. "I mean, honestly…"

The Guardian of Pluto had mostly tuned the girl out and was now focusing entirely on the fight playing out before her. The boy in the white robe seemed to be employing some sort of ki folding technique from which to pull a seemingly limitless supply of weapons, which in turn implied a decent level of martial arts skill. His accuracy at employing said weapons left much to be desired as he had yet to throw anything that either boy couldn't intercept, even with the coke bottle rims mistakenly called glasses hugging his nose.

The bandanna'd teen seemed to be built like a tank with strength to match, but had yet to land a decisive blow on his opponent. At first glance it looked like the boy in the blue Chinese shirt was in way over his head. Everything he threw at the fanged boy seemed to get shrugged off, as if the attacks were inconsequential. On one hand it told her that the fanged kid was just that tough, because those weren't light weight hits he was taking. On the other hand…

Setsuna Meiou had gone into her post as the Guardian of Pluto with Black class unarmed, unpowered defense rating. Even if she had only spend one day per year out of her considerable lifespan practicing her unarmed combat skills, she would still have over _forty one years _of experience to draw upon.

Setsuna Meiou definitely practiced more than one day per year.

…On the other, the pigtailed boy was holding back. By a considerable margin, unless she missed her guess. As strong and as durable as the yellow tunic teen may have been, he simply wasn't landing any decisive blows and while the other was delivering them seemingly at will. _He's drawing it out_, she realized. Why was of almost little to no concern, but it was obvious that the black haired boy was prolonging the fight on purpose. The deeper study caused something about the martial artist to tickle her senses, something…

…_magical_.

After fifteen millennia wallowing in magic, the spark was easily recognizable within the boy. In that moment watching the pair fight, she came to a decision. The odds against finding another reincarnation were next to nothing. Mankind had virtually no defense against the waiting darkness. Her Queen was dead, as was the princess, and she had no hope of returning to her native plane. She was mankind's last, best hope for survival.

It was time to begin anew.

Ranma Saotome, Heir to the Anything Goes School of martial was a man of mixed emotions. A combination punch blew by his face, but he was already out of the strike, ducking under it and delivering a kick to Ryoga's midsection. It wasn't enough to put the Lost Boy down by any stretch, but it was encouragement for him to try harder. Sure enough, Ryoga Hibiki redoubled his efforts to hit his opponent. On one hand, Ranma was happy. This was martial arts, his chosen arena of expertise since he could walk. He was in his element. On the other, Ranma was annoyed. Ryoga's problems were his own damn fault and he had given his rival a number of passes concerning them. Likewise, Mousse was a reactionary idiot who couldn't see the forest through the trees regardless of the fact that he now wore his glasses. It wasn't like HE was the one to glomp Shampoo, after all.

As unwelcome as the pair were at the moment, they served one primary, important function for the martial arts heir… _Stress relief_. Ranma deflected a kick and opened Ryoga's guard again, preparing batter the same rib with round from the Chestnut-- _A shadow?_

**THREAT.**

Warning blasted through Ranma's conscious and he instinctively cut out the limiters, switching out the technique with a hard kick to Ryoga's chest in order to gain the necessary momentum to decisively withdraw from the engagement. His foot impact, rebounded and Ranma skidded away even as a blur dropped in from above, striking the ground where he had been with the knife of its fingertips.

_Who the hell--!? A girl!?_

Time seemed to slow for a moment as red eyes considered him from the crouch she had landed in, while green hair floated down around her face in cascading sheets. Ranma blinked and the moment collapsed. The green whirlwind suddenly spun one hundred and eighty degrees onto Ryoga, who was only beginning to comprehend the threat. Ranma watched in fascination as the girl-_ no, woman_, he mentally amended -dismantled the Lost Boy hit by hit.

Non-lethal.

Non-lethal.

Non-lethal.

_Out._

The decisive blowe was an open palm to the chest, knocking the wind out of the pig-boy while paving the way for similar uppercut directly to his chin. Ryoga floated in open air for a moment before crashing back to the earth sans consciousness. The end of the Hibiki's fight signaled the beginning of Mousse's as she caught one of the ring weighted kunai he had thrown by its pointed tip, twisted with its momentum and threw it back at the boy hard. The hidden weapons specialist barely had a moment to consider what had just happened when the blunt end of the implement slammed against his forehead.

_Out._

Mousse sank to the earth an inert mass. Ranma recovered from his crouch, adrenaline pounding through his veins and his body on high alert, yet he couldn't help but to afford the woman the ever so slightest of smiles. Whoever she was, she had decisively set the tone for her actions, and those were less than lethal in nature. That was something he could live with. The woman turned back to him, apparently unconcerned as to whether he would rush her open back, and it was then he got his first good look at the woman.

_Beautiful._

The thought rushed in before he could mentally scold himself, which happened point five seconds after. So was Shampoo. And Ukyo. And even Akane. And all of them represent his untimely demise, just like the one before him now. She was probably a fiancée and fiancées invariably represent one thing in his life… Pain. Make that two things: Pain and _suffering_. As beautiful as this red eyed, green haired woman was, she was undoubtedly nothing but trouble.

The woman waited silently for a minute or two, studying him in kind before speaking. "You would be Ranma…?"

It was clearly a question, and he wondered where she knew his name from. She had been standing next to Akane…? "Saotome. Heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts."

The woman nodded, as if it were a given. "Then Saotome-san, if you will honor a request…?"

Ranma cocked his head curiously. "Sure."

"Fight me."

* * *

**R**anma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts warily eyed the green haired beauty standing before him within the confines Tendo courtyard. _Fight me?_ The cordial request echoed in his brain and he couldn't help but to consider the tantalizing possibility. She was good. Damn good. Anybody who could so thoroughly dismantle Ryoga in as little time as she had deserved that consideration._ Besides, when was the last time somebody simply asked?_ Ranma wondered mentally as he gave the request more weight. _As opposed to barging in through a wall and demanding a fight to the death?_

The pigtailed boy shrugged internally. Intriguing as it was, he had to know before this went any further. "You ain't a fiancée are you?"

The woman simply arched an eyebrow and Akane answered in her stead with a derisive snort. "Baka. She's with the board of education."

_Board of education? _Ranma blinked, turning his skeptical glance from the red eyed woman to Akane and back before taking the terse reply at face value. It wasn't like such an occurrence was without precedent, though a small part of him was left wondering just why the Tokyo board of Education invested so heavily in its teachers knowing martial arts… The last thing he needed was another loopy pineapple chucking, age transfiguring martial arts ki vampire on his ass, after all.

"Sure, why not."

Akane simply rolled her eyes as Kasumi joined her off to the side, followed by a smirking Nabiki who had just stepped out of the house. The mirth in her voice was clearly evident as she voiced the most obvious conclusion available. "Another fiancée?"

"Board of Education." Kasumi corrected gently as the pair faced off, forcing a skeptical look from her younger sibling. "Akane may receive a theater scholarship."

"Really." Nabiki's deadpanned reply was lost on Kasumi, who simply nodded. The middle Tendo looked to Akane for confirmation, who nodded in turn.

"Not like the pervert fights girls seriously," She replied, her face crinkling with dissatisfaction. "Baka."

Nabiki shook her head as she debated whether to stay for the impending fight or turn back to her room and the magazine awaiting on her bed. It was a tough call for the middle Tendo, who had already deemed the forthcoming battle sadly predictable. The two would fight, Ranma would hold out with the dodging shtick, and when it became obvious the girl couldn't win, she would fold, playing on the Saotome's weakness for crying women to get whatever she was after.

_Board of Education, my ass_, she rolled her eyes. That was perhaps her only reason to stick around and watch. First hand information was much better than pumping it out of her younger sister's skewed point of view or owing Kasumi a favor later for a second hand account. Besides, scholarship or not, it was always amusing to see just what trouble her future brother in-law could get into… and how much was to be made off of it.

Ranma waited in his deceptively open stance. Setsuna stood before him with her own aire of nonchalance, as if mildly curious, but mostly bored with the entire process. Another minute ticked by without a move and Nabiki began to get bored. Maybe owing sis a favor would be worth--

"I see," The emerald haired guardian crooked the slightest of smiles. "A gentleman. And I thought chivalry was dead."

_Ranma? A gentleman? chivalry?_ It was one of the few times Akane and Nabiki's thoughts ran in parallel, both doubting they had heard the statement correctly as they couldn't have possibly occupied the same sentence with the name 'Ranma'.

Ranma blinked with surprise. Setsuna sighed as the development rolled around in his mind. "Then the first move must be mine, I suppose."

The boy nodded and the slight smile evaporated. "Then let us begin."

Ranma's guard snapped up a split second for the woman's first strike blurred in while the tactical portion of his brain committed every aspect of its execution to memory for break down and analysis._ Fast; but not unexpectedly so._ He'd watched her drop Ryoga at the impressive speed she displayed now. His arm to the impact and he processed the deflection. _Definitely got some strength there._ The sliding step in indicated a Tai Chi variant, and the attack itself was direct enough; in short, a probe. While he would have been content to dodge it outright, it was fast enough to warrant an instant deflection, lest she turn it into something more.

The pigtailed boy efficiently blocking the initial strike while stepping out of the leg sweep that followed, then a snap kick. Probe, probe, probe. Which he was fine with. Even probes gave him insight into the woman's style and tactics. For instances, whatever the woman was using, it wasn't Tai Chi. It moved like it, but the style was harder; more aggressive in seeking out targets. Tai Chi he would be safe in dodging. This variant, however… Her entire stance and posture left to many avenues open to attack from, forcing a more active defense.

He was thanking himself less than a second later as what looked like an overly committed punch turned into a screaming roundhouse that would have decisively ended the match for a person of lesser skill. The hit made solid contact with the back of his hand as he deflected it and the combination that followed… Completely missing the kick it had screened. A long leg flashed out through the opening, planting a solid heal into Ranma's sternum. Air exploded from the wide eyed boy's chest as he slid back two meters, fighting to retain his balance.

When friction finally bled his inertia away, he found the woman directing a bemused expression his way. Ranma smirked back. She could fight, had hit him and _wasn't_ a fiancée… This was going to be _good_.

From the sidelines, Nabiki gaped and Akane's eyes widened. On any given day, the middle Tendo would have been more than happy to take a bet against Ranma. That meant money. Absurd amounts of money… Today, she was _thanking_ _God_ she hadn't. Today she would have bled cash given the fact that she normally offered fantastic odds on simply hitting Ranma, let alone winning a match, and some woman claiming to be a teacher had just accomplished the former.

_But why is he smiling about it?_

The moment was short lived as Ranma decided to return the favor. He blurred forward, matching her speed and then some while advancing on her like a martial arts buzz saw. Even Setsuna wallowed in a split second's worth of shock at his speed before her own guard snapped up, deflecting a series of lighting probes that appeared to be rooted in some bastardized Kempo variant. It was a direct attack, but faster than her opening by a considerable margin. Block, block, Blo--_WHAT THE HELL?_

The Senshi of Pluto suddenly found her left arm in a vice as her pigtailed opponent, slid around on her flank as if skating across ice, locking the joint that had been deflecting his probes and reversing it behind her back. _Judo! Where the hell had that come from?! _There was no time to consider the matter further as Ranma moved her arm into hyperextension, from which there could only be three outcomes- Yield, pop the joint, or-- Setsuna cart wheeled around the lock's center of gravity and pivoted, breaking her opponent's hold and forcing him into decisive close range combat.

The move should have forced the kid onto the defensive, resetting their match in her favor. _Should_ have. Instead, the opening she had just created melted away and his blue eyes were back in her face as if he had never left offense. Combinations continued to hammer at her guard until one slipped by. Three blows were deflected outright. A forth slipped through and a foot hammered at her ribcage.

_Half power. A warning_, she decided, based on his earlier performance against the bandanna'd boy. _Still giving me an opportunity to still back out. Nice kid. _

Setsuna stepped into form three of Martian Coup de Vitesse, executing a more aggressive version of an art that hadn't seen use on earth in over fifteen hundred years. She was, in fact, its sole practitioner. Form three abandoned all forms of defense in favor of a crushing offense and her combinations swept into Ranma's own offense like a sledge hammer. Her shoulder and leg took two more hits as her stance seemingly opened up from Ranma's point of view. He moved for a decisive blow and suddenly took a savage round house kick to the chin, two finger tip punches to the chest and a kick to the legs.

For the first time in the Tendo's memory, Ranma _fell_.

Stars exploded across Ranma's vision for that split second as he executed a graceless roll-out on instinct alone. His bout of double vision cleared, only to find the green haired woman still on him, moving in for the knock out blow.

_SHIT!_

The strike came in and Ranma flowed through the roll's inertia off his back, into the air and kicked the open fist away with a foot before flipping back to his feet. The martial artist flowed into a Tae Kwon Do stance, intercepting the next combination at the forearm and flipping the woman into the grassy earth on her own momentum. Instead of breaking contact, Setsuna opted to reverse the grip as she dropped, serving up two more hard kicks to his ribs for his trouble. Ranma broke the hold and stepped out of combat range, mentally frowning as he watched the woman recover from her fall.

_Doesn't that screwed up have Tai Chi of hers have any defense?!_ Ranma frowned mentally as his right ribcage throbbed. _An art centered around taking hits only for opportunities to inflict more punishing blows? _Still, one thing was absolutely clear to the martial artist now… The woman was simply too damn good to fight with kiddie gloves.

And now she held him with that same bemused expression, as if to emphasis the fact. Ranma's smirk returned. "Don't say I didn't warn ya…"

Setsuna's brain was just processing her own witty retort when the Saotome blurred forward, utilizing the fullest measure of speed available to him. Her offensive response was completely inadequate as he slid to blank range and battered her torso with a five fisted dragon strike. She committed to her reprisal in full and he flowed around it like liquid mercury, opening up on her exposed back. The point of Ranma's fingers punched five targets all along her spine, ending at the sciatic nerve and finishing with a hard kick.

Setsuna nearly fell face first into the earth as her own world was suddenly engulfed in excruciating pain. The Mistress of Time rolled through the blow and recovered, albeit shakily, her entire left arm now completely numb. _Pressure points,_ she realized. The nerve was a bonus. She used her remaining arm to reach up to the now dead limb, pushing at three points with her finger tips. Feeling began to flow back to left arm as she reconsidered her advancing opponent. Form three against somebody like him was a mistake. He was simply too fast and hit too hard to guarantee the necessary retaliation that made the martial arts branch so effective. The kid was heavy on the offense, that much was obvious. _And how many goddamn styles does he know?_ She had already counted nearly five, at least, all woven into that Kempo style of his.

She nodded at herself, coming to a conclusion. _Form two it is then, heavy on the counter attacks._

Ranma watched the woman's stance tighten up with curiosity. Lower center of gravity, more pivot options, less attack flexibility unless he missed his guess. _Guess that full offensive thing wasn't working out too well for her,_ he chuckled internally, his thoughts shadowed with mischievous grin. Still, the pressure point reversal was a nice touch.

Blue eyes sparkled and Ranma reengaged_._ Setsuna took the blurring strikes head on, evading and deflecting until a hole opened up. She didn't have to wait long. The pig tailed boy readied another combination and she found her opportunity, twisting around to take full advantage of the breach. Her still numb left forearm blocked the next strike, allowing her to pour into the opening and hammer his gut with two hard punches.

She was rewarded by an explosive gasp, but the victory was short lived as the Saotome's knee came up into her soft stomach in kind. Ranma put enough into the blow to lift her off the ground, grab her blocking arm and throw her to the ground again.

_Separateseparateseperate!_ The mantra screamed through Setsuna's brain and she twisted to take the landing, flowing into a foot sweep to catch the boy off guard. The leg caught him, destabilizing his balance. She readied her counterattack from ground level, only to watch as he turned the handicap into a rolling attack, nearly taking the two open handed fists that followed. _Coup de Vitesse! The kid is trying form three Coup de Vitesse!_

Setsuna hopped up and threw a token snap kick his way as she considered the new development. _Sloppy as hell, but the fact that he's even attempting it after seeing it only once! _The possibilities floated through the Guardians brain as she considered just how talented the boy before her was; The barest measure of hope reignited within her. _Time to find out just how good you really are, Saotome._

The Princess of Pluto concentrated, opening up her planetary bindings and link to the Time Gates ever so slightly. Up to this point, she hadn't used anything other than what her bindings passively granted her-- increased stamina, strength and reflexes. Now, she had just increased those and would be actively drawing upon her own gifts as well. Technically it was cheating, but necessary if she was to find out just how well Ranma did in the deep end where she need his potential most.

From the sidelines, the sisters had been joined by Genma and Soun, both of whom asked the same fiancée question before settling in to watch a duel whose intensity they hadn't seen matched in quite a while. Soun was staring. Genma was_ gawking_. Few could match his son's skill in the art and to date, none of them had been female. This one was not only holding her own, but landing solid hits. It wasn't possible, but… _it was_.

Ranma stepped forward again and renewed his offensive. This time, Setsuna was ready and compressed time around her person, subjectively slowing the outside world as her own speed increased exponentially. Two steps from her, the guardian's next advantage took hold.

_Flash._

_High speed fist technique. Overly committed. Punch by punch deflection. Counterattack with beta kick to head. Highest probability to hit from low angle of attack…_

The Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken came in and Setsuna couldn't help but to be impressed. With anybody else, she could have slacked off under time dilatation. Ranma still forced her to block, though his overwhelming edge in speed was blunted by her boost and the fact that she had literally _seen_ it coming. She took Ranma's technique, deflecting each and every one of two hundred high speed punches before retaliating in kind. His move had left no option to evade and she took the opportunity for all it was worth, ducking into a low crouch to thrust a long leg up into his chin. Ranma saw stars for the second time since their duel began and was pushed upward a good meter before landing hard and without preparation.

_Flash._

_Roll out. Attempt to reengage. Kick combination, two parts. Highest probabilities to evade right, interrupt second part with chop to the left leg. Mobility limited by twenty to eighty percent, outcomes even..._

The martial artist hit the ground hard but recovered quickly, rolling forward in an attempt to retain the offensive. He hopped up, attempting to thrust a combination kick into the woman only watch her dodge right and into a zone of low flexibility for blocking. The edge of her hand came down, targeting a nerve bundle along the thigh that lit his entirely right leg on fire before settling into numbness.

Ranma staggered to separate, desperately trying to figure out what had changed. The woman had gotten faster, that much was certain. _Fast my ass… she deflected every one of my chestnut fists! _And now she was finding the perfect counter to each and every one of his moves, retaliating for maximum effect_. She's been holding back that much?_ _Before she was tolerable. Now…_

Ranma grinned through the throbbing pain. …Now it was time to step it up a notch.

Setsuna watched the pain smile form and the premonition flashed again. _Glowing. Power. Special technique! Ranged Ki shot! _The Guardian's attention snapped back to her opponent in the here and now and found him glowing.

"Shit!"

A one meter wide ball of super dense ki formed in the Saotome's hand and he thrust the bright blue sphere at the emerald haired combatant, forcing her wild evasion left. Ranma was already following the attack in and reengaged hand to hand.

_Feint! Force guard! Break contact to avoid being decisively engaged! Counter, Reversal at sixty percent, higher probabilities on rolling with the punch and joint lock the left arm!_

Setsuna Meiou barely had time to process the premonitions and followed the visions instinctively. She retreated from Ranma's renewed onslaught and countered, grabbing the attacking arm as the opening presented itself, pulling it through on its own momentum and flipping the martial artist through the air.

"Waaaaah!"

_SPAlooooSH!_

Setsuna held the stance and… stared. The water froted from the impact and a busty redhead girl waded out a second later with a none too happy look on her face. The irate girl sputtered pond water, a blue eyed glare settling on Guardian.

"I swear people do that on purpose!"

The Princess of Pluto shrugged off the mental reboot like a pro. She had seen stranger in her fifteen thousand years. Either Ranma was so damn good at illusionary magic that even she couldn't detect it, a Starlight, or...

_Water. Magic. Transformation._ "Jusenkyo?"

Ranma's feminine ire stalled, replaced by curiosity. "Yeah. How'd ya know?"

"I'm a… _Historian_ of sorts." she replied with an enigmatic smile, causing Ranma to arch an eyebrow. Nabiki couldn't resist.

"I thought you were a teacher."

"A teacher of history," Setsuna's smile turned condescending, as if a two year old could have picked up on the concept. Nabiki scowled and the guardian turned back to Ranma. "Shall we continue?"

Ranma cocked her head at the woman, as if making a judgment call of sorts. A moment later, that cockeyed grin of hers reappeared and she cracked her knuckles. "Let's."

Setsuna frowned within. There was something different in her opponent's blue eyes now. _Besides belonging to a female_, she amended silently.

The girl blurred.

This time her gifts barely warned her of the incoming attack with enough time to avoid the renewal of hostilities, staying just one step ahead of Ranma's attacks to maintain parity. It was a double edged sword now. She had just enough time to read the attacks, but not enough to read the counter attack probabilities for a--

_CRaCK._

It was a right cross, three tiers lower on the probabilities she had gauged and dismissed on the had moved to probability number one, snapping her head viciously ninety degrees. Setsuna's world wavered and her guard dropped. It was of little surprise that the diminutive redhead exploited the hole ruthlessly, burying a fist in the Senshi's abdomen and paving the way for another three kicks that tracked up her torso.

The Mistress of Time took the full brunt of the strike and tumbled wildly across the Tendo court yard before coming to her senses and recovering through a sloppy roll. The world blurred out of focus again and she shook the disorientation away. Setsuna staggered up and rubbed her jaw while marveling at the power the girl had packed into the strike. _Finally got him ...her to take the gloves off…_

_Warning. Class three impact detected. Emergency power-up initi—_

_Negative, override. _The Guardian of Time suppressed her armor's AI and readied for the next round, digging deeper into time dilatation. She'd have a headache tomorrow, but for now…

The redheaded typhoon was on her again, but this time she was manageable, slowed enough through temporal manipulation to read her moves in premonition and produce the counters necessary to ablate her offensive. Ranma stepped in, dealing a kick at chestnut fist speeds. It wasn't something she could have quite pulled off as a guy, but the marginal increase in speed came with more innate flexibility, and she put it to use; pushing nearly three hundred kicks on target.

_Block, block, block, deflection, block, deflection, critical miss, FUCK!_

Setsuna cleanly evaded kick number one hundred and forty six, grabbing it at the girl's shin, pulling her in off balance. It was perhaps the biggest weakness of using the 'chestnut kick' and the guardian had timed it to exploit the fault perfectly. Ranma staggered off balance and the Princess of Pluto repaid her for the earlier trespass with a similar right cross, hooked with an elbow for good measure. Ranma's head snapped around violently, but it wasn't over. The emerald haired combatant still had her leg.

Under normal circumstances, Setsuna Meiou couldn't have reproduced the chestnut fist. Her art was another and extreme speed training wasn't part and parcel to that art. But when one could manipulate the time-space curve around them, it wasn't absolutely necessary. One hundred a fifty strength augmented punches pulverized the redhead's midsection in under a two seconds, turning her gut to liquid pain while fueling her desperation further.

_Flash. _

_Opponent's attempt to disengage. Attempt to retake offensive. highest probabilities on leg attacks; secondary on head and chest respectively. Assuming legs, counter to--_

Ranma pushed off on her only mobile leg; using the one Setsuna had locked as a pivot. The Saotome was suddenly airborne, corkscrewing around the pivot while her free leg flashed out to take a chunk out of the woman's face. Setsuna's eyes widened, warned only by her premonition and the fact that the reprisal was a secondary probability. She barely saw the foot that blew by her nose, jerking out of the way only a fraction of a second before wind tore by it.

_Flash._

_Back open, ninety eight percent odds on successful strike to the third vertebrae. Attempt to disengage at eighty three percent... _

The wild corkscrew forced Setsuna to relinquish her hold on Ranma's leg, but the redhead's back was now wide open as she landed, practically lighting a neon sign that begged for a pounding. Setsuna obliged, bringing her elbow down on the requisite vertebrae like a sledge hammer and slamming the girl into the earth at her feet.

_Flash._

_Nintey-three percent on retaliation, leg sweep. Counter attack high odds of failure, best odds to withdraw and reengage..._

The ground cracked with the martial artist's impact. Ranma's body pulsed with renewed pain, but she gritted her teeth, shifting her center of gravity wildly and sweeping an outstretched leg in hopes of connecting with the woman's. Instead, she gathered nothing but air as her opponent hopped over the sweep and withdrew from melee ranges.

_Sonofabitch!_ She growled internally as the green haired woman began to circle around onto her flank. Ranma pushed herself back up and quickly took stock of the situation. _Almost like she's reading my moves somehow...! And it just ain't natural how she keeps speedin' up... Already hits like Ryoga..._

Setsuna herself was performing the same analysis, but with the added advantage of being able to foresee the future. Or rather 'a' future. So far, she was impressed he had lasted this long against her augmented abilities. _Long enough to be useful in a fight?_ That was the question she posed to herself. When the shit hit the fan, whoever stood with her would more than likely be wading ass deep in super powered magical youma, not to mention facing down something along the lines of Beryl or worse. Could a martial artist hold his or her own in that sort of high threat—

_Flash._

_High speed charge. Feint with Coup de Vitesse, special technique ...cloaking field?!_

The red head charged in as advertised, Setsuna too shocked to even consider an outcome past seeing the girl disappear in her vision. Ranma executed the double feint and slid off to screen the technique's activation. Sure enough, the girl wavered before Setsuna's eyes, disappearing from sight.

WHAT THE HELL?

_Flash._

_Attack! Rear! High penetration Ki tech—!_

The vision came too late, even under time dilation. The Mistress of Time had barely begun to spin around when Ranma uncloaked aft, already in position to deliver the white snake reliable fist technique to her exposed back. The girl's fingertips came up and channeled ethereal spikes of ki before punching into thirteen separate points. Each impact dumped the ki's full potential through Setsuna's clothing without damage, only to see their full effect as it reacted her internal organs.

_WARNING! Class six impact detected! _Her fuku AI screamed through her link as she hit the earth. _Augmenting healing focals; Transformation override in place. Advise transformation immediately!_

_Flash._

_Snap kick combination, best probabilities in wrist deflection right, recover, ranged ki technique, side step left, reengage..._

The Guardian of Time could barely keep up as she fought to extricate herself from the perilous situation. The kick snapped out and she deflected it out of position, allowing precious seconds to right her aching body before profiling right to avoid another blast of ki from the girl's outstretched hand. The bolt blazed by and she charged in accordance to her premonition, evading the girls next high speed fist technique and landing two open handed fists to the chest while kicking her legs out from under her.

_Flash._

The premonitions continued to flow in for Setsuna, who in turn continued to dismantle the martial artist hit by hit. Ranma was bruised and staggering, but still refused to go down. Setsuna stepped into the third form of her art, ready to end the match decisively. Before, it had been a mistake, but now she had an unmistakable edge. Now, she could take hits without...

Setsuna paused as the premonition tugged at her thoughts. Something unusual. She searched the vision, finding nothing out of the ordinary with the higher probabilities. In fact, she was about to dismiss the feeling entirely and execute her offensive when she caught a glimpse at one of the lowest possibilities that normal would have gone ignored.

_Elemental Ki Tornado?_ Setsuna dug lower as the vision of a ki fueled tornado played out. What she found checked her doubts about this particular martial artist surviving in a high threat environment. A _Ley line shattering technique?! Vacuum blades?!_

Ranma was panting heavily, but watched as the woman who clearly held the advantage suddenly float out of range... _nervously? _Something had changed and while she was more than happy to take the breathing room, she was also wondering just what had unsettled her opponent. The answer came moments later.

"I yield."

The redhead blinked, now staring incredulously at the green haired woman. Ranma wasn't sure whether to be happy or pissed. "You _WHAT?!_"

"I yield," The pensive expression evaporated with the answer, and Setsuna now held Ranma with the enigmatic smile she had started the match with. "I can only foresee this duel becoming vastly more destructive before a winner is declared. In any case, that is not my intention."

"Uh..." It was the best Ranma could produce. Sure, she was all but certain the woman could take the heavier techniques, but...

Nabiki was just as shocked, as were the rest of her family. Even Genma wore a surprised expression. _And right he should,_ The middle Tendo decided. _This history teacher was cleaning his almighty heir's clock_. Still, the bait was so obvious that she just had to ask.

"Then what _is_ your intention?"

Setsuna Meiou smiled with the question, but otherwise ignored it. "Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes School of martial arts... I have a proposition for you."

"And what's that?" The redhead cocked an eyebrow cautiously, wiping a trickle of blood from the edge of her mouth. The situation was entirely too weird for her taste, going from zero to sixty and back in a single fight.

"I would like to offer you a martial arts scholarship," Setsuna replied, eliciting a number of gasps from the observers scattered around them. "A full ride to Tokyo University."

Nabiki nearly choked. "_Full ride?!_ _Him!?_"

"I'm a martial artist too!" Even as her sister's voice pitched to near squealing levels, Akane had seized on a different fact entirely. "I would like to apply as well!"

"Of course you may," Setsuna gave the girl a charitable look, then glanced back over her shoulder to the patch of dirt occupied by Ryoga's face. "Do you think you can pass the entrance exam?"

The youngest Tendo suddenly found her mouth dry and the women shrugged, pulling a business card from her pant pocket and proffering it to Ranma with both hands. "The board expects the requisite paperwork to be filed in a timely manner... if you can drop by this address on Friday, we can process it immediately."

Ranma's brain had since stalled and she took the card on pure automation. "S-sure..."

"Very well then," She smiled, turning for the front gate. "See you on Friday. One o'clock. Don't be late."

With that, the History Teacher departed, leaving two stunned Saotomes and four equally stunned Tendos in her wake.

* * *

**Author's Notes**; "What? You already have a Setsuna/Ranma match! Hey! Why don't you just fill in that in-between time from BoT! Dammit! You have other fics to write! Back to work, Slave!"

Of course, you would be correct in citing all three of these, save that my muse has ADD and I feel it best to let those complete works stay that way... Complete. BoT was never intended to detail a full romance and while I could shoe horn it in, I'm inclined not to. So that said, you get an entirely new one built as an in-depth action romance from the ground up. Without detailing too much plot, there will be no fuku Ranma, though I will have her grow into her female aspect. I enjoy writing evolution, so call the Ranma-chan content of this story at… thirty to forty percent.

Yūko Ichihara; _A principle character in the series XXXHolic and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle by Clamp. Her laid back demeanor belies the fact that she is, in fact, a dimensional witch with the ability to grant wishes at a price always equivalent to the weight of the wish, no more, no less. This give/take construct governs her existence both voluntarily and involuntarily and their prices range from servitude as in Kimihiro Watanuki's case, to the complete loss of memories, abilities, etc._

Setsuna, martial artist; _I assume you just don't become a Senshi without the basics in order to defend your world and your queen; likewise important temporal artifacts. thus, I credit Setsuna with hand to hand skill hose upkeep I assume she would take seriously as part of her post. While she may not be a gifted genius in her arts, 15k years has to count for something and I'm writing it in as such. _

Setsuna vs Ranma; _Also discussed at length over at TFF. Simply put, I consider Setsuna to have a depth of experience in that she has a solid in-depth knowledge of her art and others while Ranma has breadth, his knowledge dipping into numerous arts only insofar as to leech them of their most useful moves. Also taken into consideration is the fact that Ranma is a martial arts genius; Setsuna is merely 15k years worth of good. All things being equal, Ranma should win. In this match, however, they obviously were not._

Ranma YSK/USK; _Another topic we beat like a dead redheaded step horse. when it comes right down to it, I interpret Ranma's 'sealing' of the Yama/Umi sen ken arts as sealing others access to them. He has learned the USK and has ample access to both arts during the Kumon Ryu arc; Likewise has ultimately employed techniques more destructive than both, thus I credit him with practical knowledge of both by either reading the scrolls himself or simply watching the YSK performed by Ryu (Ranma grasped the USK side after merely one round with Genma)._

Sailor your name here; _Setsuna doesn't have the ability to bind planets. Stop pestering her._

Hitsuzen; _The Japanese equivalent of fate and destiny; the primary difference being in that fate implies an immutable course of action that must be taken, where Hitsuzen implies an inevitable interconnection between events borne of free will. The phrase "__there are no coincidences, only __hitsuzen" __ is used as a philosophical conjunction toward that end. The difference between 'fate' and 'Hitsuzen' is nebulous at best, though it is a central philosophy in many CLAMP works._

Barycenter; _The __center of mass__ of two or more bodies, usually bodies orbiting around each other. This point is not necessarily equal distance between both bodies._

Special Thanks; Oh man... there's a lot of people on this one... Amy, Dustin, DT, Hitaumonwa, HolyKnight, MageOhki, The One Who Shall Not be Named and everybody who commented on the TFF beta thread. Yas alls rocks. If I forgot anybody, you know i still love you. Any errors left over are my responsibility alone.


	2. Chapter 2

"**C**ome on, mom, I don't see why—!"

"Nonsense, Ranma," Genma Saotome watched from the couch as his wife fussed over their only child, tugging at the teen's dress shirt collar to pull out a wrinkle. "No son of mine will attend an appointment to our country's most prestigious university in martial arts silks. Now hold still."

"But--!"

The martial artist's protest went unheard and Genma rolled his eyes, adjusting his glasses. He recognized futility when he saw it and his son's aversion to the black dress pants and white dress shirt he now wore were largely ineffectual, especially in the face of Nodoka's mothering.

Even so it was still quite a shock, and the full scholarship to Tokyo University was actually the least of it. Looming large in Genma's brain was the fight and the woman of its focus. She was a master, that much was clear. Anybody who could force his boy into the higher techniques was at least that, and normally those that could were five times older, at least.

This one had been in her early twenties.

_She'll be a problem_, Genma sighed to himself, continuing to watch his wife pick over Ranma, ensuring an immaculate appearance. Teacher or not, she was good, and anybody that good wouldn't go unnoticed by the boy. _Or vice versa_, he amended with a frown. His son had obviously inherited his luck with women and the balding martial artist was all but certain that the teacher would somehow become ensnared much like the others. _Unlike_ the others, this one was dangerous.

"Are we done yet--?"

"Hold still while I pluck this thread..."

For better or worse, Genma Saotome had devoted a lot of time and energy to Ranma's fiancée problem, specifically in keeping his son's focus on Akane. That had included a tactical breakdown of all the threats to his pact with Soun. Shampoo, for instance, had raw sex appeal and was decent at martial arts. Normally he would worry more about the girl, but the Amazon's were fortunately too manipulative for their own good. Ukyo, on the other hand, wasn't quite as good but she was at least competent, and had that 'girl next door' quality to her. She was also smarter than her rivals, attempting many of her machinations from behind the scenes instead of alienating Ranma outright. Like Shampoo, however, she suffered critically by being perceived as Ranma's childhood friend. It wasn't likely that status would change soon without time and space, two things Genma wasn't about to afford the girl.

_This new woman, however..._ She was an excellent martial artist, something that the boy could respect. She was stunningly attractive, sure to turn his head sooner or later. Being a teacher, she was presumably smart enough. _And once the Saotome charm takes hold..._

In short, she was a problem.

_Especially with her potential full time access to the boy on campus,_ Genma frowned, his thoughts turning grim. And once Nodoka realized all of this, he'd stand a better chance of lighting a fire in a snow storm than keeping Ranma focused on Akane.

_Dammit, Soun... why didn't you hold up your end?_ The answer was obvious of course, and he really couldn't blame the man, but it made the job exponentially harder. An Akane with a competent martial arts background would stand out to Ranma. He'd seen Soun's art back in the day. It was something the boy could respect, while the focus required would likely calm the girl down as well... _Probably help her in the more mundane arts as well, such as sewing and cooking._

Genma shivered with the latter thought.

At very least, a solid martial arts grounding would have helped her appreciate the skill Ranma possessed and the sacrifices required to obtain that skill. He was willing to admit that Akane was a largely well meaning and easy on the eyes, but so was her competition, and _they_ were better in every other area he cared to think about.

"The tie too," Genma chuckled to himself as Nodoka proffered his son the strip of fabric, prompting Ranma to adopt a thoroughly defeated posture. _Get used to it, boy_, he smirked before turning back to the matter at hand.

It was possible he was being overly paranoid. There was an age difference to consider, after all, but he knew the boy's luck all too well. The Saotome patriarch chewed his lip with the dilemma. What would he do if this teacher became enamored with his son like so many other women? The frown returned.

Drastic measures would be in order.

* * *

**A Time Apart**  
By _Ozzallos_

**Chapter 2**

* * *

_**S**__uite 1304... suite 1305...._ Ranma Saotome continued to idly scan the hall he was walking through, noting the numbered plastic placards and titles beneath them. They all held some pretentious title below the reflective golden number, such as 'attorney at law' or 'chief executive officer'. Every once in a while he would pass a similarly dressed salary man or some smartly dressed secretary as he transversed the maroon carpeted hallway, reminding him of just why he didn't want to be there in the first place.

Sure, it was a full scholarship to Tokyo University and that was generally considered a good thing, but then again this trip he was on reminded him of just where scholarships ultimately led... _Corporate purgatory_. Ranma paused at a window, looking down at the streets of downtown Tokyo and the bustle of vehicular traffic. _Meh_, he decided, continuing onto his appointed rounds. _Let the suits have the city._ He was a martial artist with better things to do. Still, he sighed. _Gotta make mom happy, I guess._

_1311... Minumoto laboratories.... 1312... Accounts Receivable... 1313..._

_1313? _Ranma paused, noting the complete lack of any pretentious title beneath the placard. The pigtailed boy dug the business card out of his pant pocket just to make sure that the plain brown door he was standing in front of was, indeed, the right place. The fact was confirmed quickly and he pocketed the card with a shrug. _Might as well get this over with..._

The Saotome twisted the handle and pushed open the door to reveal. _Nothing._ The room was pitch black, so much so that he couldn't even—Ranma noticed a tug at his shirt; a light breeze.

"What the—" The air suddenly gained density around him and Ranma recognized it as a pressure differential, but had next to no time to act on the tidbit of martial arts insight. His hands snapped out for the doorway frame in a desperate grab for an anchor, but the vacuum had been too sudden and his surprise too complete. The martial artist's fingers managed to touch the frame, but it wasn't nearly enough.

"SON OF A _BIIIIIIIITCH!"_

Ranma fell or was sucked through the door suddenly- he wasn't sure which -and watched as it quickly dwindle into a tiny rectangle; the sole source of light in the void he now raced through. The martial artist managed to twist around through the momentum and found a speck of light in the opposite direction; the direction he was now heading at high speeds. All sorts of panicked thoughts were rolling around through the pigtailed boy's head as the pinpoint of light grew with proximity, and there was no way to decrease his velocity.

_Bright light, bright light..._ His mind raced to determine what, exactly the bright light was. It now took up a full fourth of the void, and Ranma wasn't liking the answers he was coming up with. _Bright light... Could be just a light... Or a high energy source... God's Moko Takabisha... Shitshitshitshitshit..._

Too late. The nova swallowed Ranma Saotome whole, obliterating his senses one moment and causing him to puke the next. Or at least he tried to puke. Either way, it compared to a double helping of Akane's cooking and he desperately wanted it to—

_Stop._

Ranma's eyes snapped open and he found himself standing, while a quick check of his person ensured his body was whole and intact. He immediately frowned, taking stock of his surroundings. Black. A void as far as the eye could see. _Great. Just great. _

"Welcome Mister Saotome," Ranma whirled around to the girl's voice at his back and found... A girl. She was dressed in a weird school girl's outfit, sporting silver hair tied up into two odango streamers. Beyond her some three hundred meters away stood..._doors?_ Blue-gray eyes smiled at him, interrupting his thoughts. "Please follow me."

"Uh, sure," Ranma acquiesced, seeing little choice in the matter. It was either follow, or stand out in the void without any answers. The martial artist loosened the bothersome tie around his neck and unbuttoned the collar as the girl started along with a bit of humming, leading the way to the only destination in sight. "Where are we, exactly?"

The humming paused and the girl turned back to him with that same smile as they walked. "You are at the Time Gates, a barycenter point between Pluto and Charon."

Ranma was none the wiser for his question, recognizing the words "time gates" and "Pluto", but little else. _Pluto is a planet and time gates... well, I dunno what the hell those are... Gates... of Time?_

"Okay, so what am I doing here?"

The girl didn't even turn back this time. "Guardian Pluto is expecting you."

_Riiiight..._ He didn't know any Guardian Pluto and he was pretty sure they weren't talking about the planet anymore. That, and he was relatively sure the girl wasn't real since she didn't register on anything he could sense. _No Ki, no power, no nothing..._

Either way, answers were sure to be forthcoming as the gates now loomed large above him. He couldn't help but to marvel at them for a moment as he took in the rich, carved detail. The structure itself appeared to be a massive frame housing the doors themselves, while each door was intricately carved, sectioned off into six scenes depicting both ritual and battle. Nor was it just the craftsmanship that was awing. He could literally feel power vibrate off of them, assuring him that whatever these gates actually did, they weren't something to by toyed with.

Gates... _of Time?_

"Whoa."

"You approve?" Ranma blinked away from the gates, finding a green haired woman walking around from the reverse side with an enigmatic smile. "Welcome to the Time Gates, Saotome-san."

It was all Ranma could do not to stare. There was no mistaking the woman he had fought; the very same that had offered him a scholarship. Only now she was dressed in a form fitting white top, loose black fuku skirt and knee high boots while her right hand tipped a long heart tipped staff across her shoulder. All in all, he had to admit, the look suited her quite well. Still, there was only one conclusion he could possibly derive from the entire situation.

"I'm guessin' there's no scholarship," He hazarded, earning a slightly more mischievous smile from the woman.

"There is, but more for the benefit of anybody caring to investigate such matters," Setsuna nodded, walking up beside the girl that had escorted him to the foot of the gates. "Suffice to say, our business lies elsewhere."

"And what business is that?"

The woman smiled enigmatically. "Why, saving the world, of course."

The martial artist crooked an eyebrow. _Saving the world? _Of course it was all complete and utter bullshit, and to his knowledge the world wasn't in any dire need of saving, but he liked her flare for the dramatic nonetheless. "Demons, aliens, spirits... that sort of thing?"

"Exactly." Setsuna nodded, completely serious now.

Ranma looked down the pleasantly smiling girl, then back to the woman. "And the bit about being a teacher?"

"I've been many things in my time," She returned cryptically, continuing. "That, however, is not my current occupation."

"So who are you really, then?"

"Perhaps a second introduction is in order," She replied, dipping into a slight bow. "I am Setsuna Meiou, The last princess of Pluto and Guardian of the late Queen Serenity the Third."

"Mmmhmmm," Ranma nodded, as if it were a given. "Look, I really gotta go, so if you could point to the way out of here..."

The martial artist turned to the void at large, scrutinizing for an exit while the woman smiled graciously. "Of course, where are my manners? Gate, open the veil."

The small girl nodded and Ranma watched as the absolute darkness began to evaporate, replaced by... _stars.._. Ranma blinked as his eyes adjusted to the millions of pin pricks of light surrounding him, then nearly staggered as they caught a dimly lit, swirling brown orb to his right. He fixated on the celestial body for the better half of a minute before find a smaller orb floating out to his left. Unlike the first, it was a soft blue-gray. Ranma's head swung from one to the other and back, trying to resolve what he was seeing.

"Earth is five point eight billion kilometers in that direction," Setsuna pointed nonchalantly, drawing Ranma's attention to a small spotlight hanging just to the left of the gates. "It's a bit of a walk, so you might want to get started."

"Uh..." Ranma looked back at the two planets hanging off to the right and left, to the gates then Setsuna herself. "Saving the world?"

"Saving the world," The guardian confirmed, any trace of humor gone now. only resolute firmness shown on her face. "Earth is in for a hard time at the hands of some of the most cruel beings imaginable. At best, they intend to enslave every last man, woman and child on the face of the planet. At worst..." At worst was left unsaid, but Ranma got the gist quite clearly. "Normally I would utilize the assistance of more guardians such as myself, but they... they're all gone."

_Gone._ Ranma noticed the hesitation associated with the words, all but assuring him that her comrades had fallen, most likely in the same battle she was supposedly inviting him to. The martial artist stared out into the stars. _Is that Orion?_ his eyes picked along the pattern, confirming the offhand observation. _The Big Dipper... Pisces..._ Ranma turned back to the woman, studying her patient demeanor carefully.

The woman herself... This _teacher_... she was powerful, that much was certain. _And holding back without a doubt_, he had since decided in reviewing the fight. Regardless, she hadn't killed anybody and even stopped the fight before it got too destructive, making the reason behind the bogus story obvious in retrospect. Ranma looked back to the giant gate looming above him and the planet drifting behind its frame. _I wouldn't have believed any of this either. _

And the stars? They certainly _looked_ real. After all that time with his old man training, he could damn near navigate by them, thought he couldn't give heads or tails on what Pluto looked like, let alone Charon. _Didn't even know there was a Charon... _Ranma's eyes turned to the gates. _Those _were real. Not only were they real, they were vibrating with tangible power. _What do time gates do, anyway? _Then there was the non-existent little girl there...

"Not sayin' that I believe any of this," The teen remarked casually, prompting the woman to smile.

"Of course not," she returned easily. "Frankly, I'm surprised you're taking it as well as you have so far. I am prepared to offer further proof, of course. Gate?"

The girl nodded with her words and the Time Gate's massive double doors began to swing open, revealing a shimmering, watery surface that rippled across the exposed threshold. Ranma's eyes widened as the ambient power that he had felt since his arrival crested abruptly, matching the waves that reflected along the distorted liquid blue surface. There really was only one thing on his mind now.

"What the _hell_ is that?"

"_That_," Setsuna stressed, motioning to the open gate. "Is a window into the past. All the proof you need is through that portal."

Ranma Saotome stepped up to the shimmering wall of power warily, studying its movement. After a full minute of staring, he turned back to the Guardian herself. "Through there?" Setsuna simply nodded. "You gotta be kidding."

"I assure you its quite safe," she explained, stepping up next to him and giving the surface an experimental poke. The liquid surface adhered to her finger for a moment before being withdrawn whole and intact. Ranma watched the ripples its touch incited reflect across the threshold. "This is an event horizon that branches into a self contained temporal bubble. Effectively, you can look, but not touch events in the past as to not instigate a terminal causality loop."

"Uh, right," The martial artist mumbled, experimentally poking at the event horizon himself. Like his host, Ranma was able to withdraw his finger back with no detrimental effects. He turned to the woman beside him, shaking his head. "Look, I appreciate the offer, but I think—"

"I understand," Setsuna proffered him an understanding smile, patting his shoulder. The patting suddenly turned into a vice grip. "But I must insist."

"What? Hey! WHAAAA!!"

The Guardian of Pluto shoved the flailing boy through the threshold, causing it to ripple wildly as fell through with neither warning or leverage to right himself. The shimmering blue liquid seemed to melt along his body until the event horizon swallowed up, his desperately clawing hand being the last thing to disappear.

The liquid surface calmed and Setsuna waited patiently.

The rippling began anew less than thirty seconds later and a new person stepped out of the porthole. She sported a similar white on black fuku, long waves of emerald hair and red eyes. A heart shaped key rested up along her left shoulder.

The Mistress of Time frowned at her new visitor. "I still don't think that was such a good idea."

"Don't tell me you're beginning to doubt yourself," The woman smirked insufferably, prompting Setsuna to roll her eyes.

"Of course not," She returned irritably. "I just can't help but to think there's a better way... I haven't allowed anybody this level of access in nearly--"

"Fourteen millennia, yes, I remember," Setsuna's sister self replied tiredly; as if their conversation was well worn ground. "Regardless, it needed to be done. Anything less would have been ineffectual."

Setsuna sighed. "If you say so."

"I do." Her future aspect replied with certainty. "I wish I could tell you the magnitude of victory just that action alone has bought you."

"Hmmf," she snorted. "You _can_."

"Yes, I can," The woman smirked once more, turning back to the gates. "But I won't. Ja-ne, Setsuna Meiou."

"Ja-ne, Setsuna Meiou." The guardian shook her head with irritation and the woman stepped back through the shimmering event horizon, disappearing.

She would have been more upset if she hadn't already done it to her past aspect on numerous occasions. In fact, it was quite amusing to watch herself floundering and quip irritated for lack of information... Except during times like these where she _herself_ was the victim of her own ego-maniacal scheming. The Guardian of Pluto scowled with the realization.

_When did I become such a_ _masochist?

* * *

  
_

**R**anma Saotome staggered as his legs found a solid footing once more, the all consuming nausea fading as he gulped down desperate breath. The martial artist calmed himself and his breathing upon realizing he was no longer being subjected to forces that he couldn't even attempt to understand and was, in fact, standing on his own two feet; beneath them... grass?

He blinked at the discovery, staring at the grass in surprise for a full thirty seconds before pulling his eyes away from the discovery to take in the rest of his surroundings. His next find was equally shocking. _A park? What the hell am I doing in a park?_ It was a sharp contrast from the void he had just stepped out of, but it was a park in every sense of the word; Grass, trees, people meandering along... That was the Saotome's first stumbling block. Kids and adults were enjoying the area under the clear blue sky, all of them dressed oddly, in robe like garments. That fact was actually minor compared to the architecture he found on the horizon. It was a city skyline the likes he had never seen, and his eyes traced up along impossibly tall crystal spires in disbelief, then stopped just above them as they nearly rolled out of their sockets in disbelief.

_Earth._

The faded crescent hung peacefully above the horizon, it's predominantly blue features faded against the lighter blue of the sky. Even so, it loomed large, making it impossible to mistake the land mass of southern Asia speckled by swirls of white clouds. Ranma stared for nearly two minutes this time, trying to reason through the logical discontinuity. He wasn't an astronomy expert, but school had taught him there was only one place the Earth could be seen like he was seeing it now, but...

…_But that's impossible,_ Ranma blinked, taking stock of his surroundings once more. Green. People. City. The moon had none of those last he checked. In fact, last he checked it was nothing but dust and craters. A teenage couple walked across his path and the teen moved to gain their attention.

"Hey, excuse me—" They continued walking and Ranma's face crinkled with annoyance. He let them go and instead targeted an older lady walking her dog. "Auntie, can you tell me..."

His voice trailed off as leaned over to scruff her dog, mumble intelligibly to him and continue on her way. Another man walked by, this one in white slacks and a similarly styled double breasted tunic. The uniform looked official to Ranma and he decided to be more forceful in his inquiries. His hand snatched out to grab the stranger by the arm only to watch it pass through his body, causing Ranma to stumble slightly off balance.

"What the--!"

Even the exclamation failed to halt the man, leaving Ranma to stare at his own hand, the man, then back. It looked solid enough, but...

He replayed the woman's obtuse explanation in his brain, extracting what he could from Meiou's soup of techno babble. _No idea what a 'self contained temporal bubble' or 'terminal causality loop' is, but 'look not touch' appears to fit what just happened exactly._ Ranma chewed on the matter further, coming to the most simplistic conclusion available given his meager knowledge of her explanation. _She mentioned something about the past... So I'm in a bubble... In the past... and can't touch the world around me?_

Ranma rubbed his temples, realizing how completely unbelievable his interpretation sounded, but studied his environment further. The crystal skyscrapers caressing the sky were like none he had ever seen before, that much was certain, but even that paled compared to the fact that Earth was hanging there behind them. The people and their weird clothing were almost not even worth mentioning after that. A small oval pod thing streaked across the horizon silently.

_Woman must have mess up or something, _Ranma frowned, tracking the vehicle and a couple of its cousins. They were too small to be airplanes and lacked proper wings to begin with. _Looks more like the future..._

The pigtailed boy simply shook his head. _What to do? Even if Meiou-san is psycho, she sent me here for a reason... _His eyes wandered back to the crystal spires. _Those aren't too far away... less the twenty kilometers. Could be there in under an hour..._

His decision made, Ranma was gone from the park at an easy pace that still had him covering distance quickly, even more so once he found out just how insubstantial he was by accidentally running into one of the air pod things. It had descended out of nowhere directly into the path of his next rooftop leap and what should have resulted in something messy for either himself or the pod turned into a nonevent as he flew right _through_ it like a ghost.

He skidded to a halt on the next roof with a twitching cheek, whipping around as the vehicle continued along unhindered. He had seen nearly every layer of the thing upon passing through; Chassis, wires, pink crystals and even the guts of its clearly human occupants. Granted, it was better than destroying the thing outright, but it was also creepy.

_Damn_ creepy.

Ranma shivered with the recollection, but turned back down his vector of travel, leaping out toward the next roof and fortunately avoiding any further collisions before finally taking to the inner city streets where his gawking resumed with earnest. Most of the traffic was pedestrian in nature, though the number of hovering pod things darting too and fro had increased as well.

The crystal monoliths soared above him now, allowing him to take in every detail of their kilometer range height. Sunlight refracted throughout their frosted structure as people carried on with their business, crossing from building to building via long, spindly crystalline bridges. A pair of children ran by, their laughter pulling Ranma away from the shimmering heights and back to the street. The new focus of attention prompted Ranma to study the surface layout of his immediate location, noting that the area didn't seem to have a proper street, just a series of walkways branching out from a main avenue that intercepted at several points with a number of green parks interspersed at the skyscraper's foundations.

Ranma meandered down the main artery of foot traffic, annoyed as a person seemed to pass through him every now and then, but otherwise soaking up the details around him. Aside from the architecture and the fact that the Earth hung just to the right of the sun, it was like any other city he had toured. People talked and walked, ate and... well, he didn't know what they were doing with those palm sized squares in their hands, but all in all, behaved like people in every city he had been to. Sure, they occasionally stepped onto those pink crystal platforms to disappear in a flash of light or got picked up by a flying pod car, but... Ranma shrugged, trying not to think on the oddities too hard. The fully animated advertisements floating in the air free of support were unnerving enough.

While interesting, his aimless wandering quickly became boring without any interaction with the world around him and he began to scout out a path to one of the lower spire rooftops. It wouldn't allow him to see around its larger cousins, but it would give him and idea of the general layout of the city at large.

Five leaps and some scrambling later brought him just high enough to step on to one of the lower sky bridges above the main street. The new view was rather enlightening as he could now see a good two thirds of the city from his vantage point, including a massive crystal dome sitting prominently at the city's core.

_Is it cracked?_ Blue eyes scrutinized the dome closely, finding the cracks weren't cracks at all, but section cut away from the hemisphere in geometric patterns, revealing another dome beneath it. _Fancy,_ he mused, continuing his observations. From the structure's apex, a crystal tower climbing into the heavens. Light glanced across its edge, refracting the sun's beam into an impossible kaleidoscope of prismatic color. _And I thought Hong Kong was all that, _Ranma stared breathlessly at the unreal sight. _Probably the capital if I had to guess... Maybe a good place to start--_

Ranma paused as a low, mournful pitch caught his ears, echoing from below. He wandered to the edge, looking down at the pedestrian traffic that had ceased all movements. _Now what?_

"...move to emergency shelters in an orderly fashion," The echo thrown words floated up to him, peaking his curiosity. "...repeat; The Queen has issued a state of emergency has for Luna Ray and the surrounding provinces..."

_State of Emergency?_ The words had just begun to process when the entire world turned white, the entire crystal city refracting an impossibly bright flash through its streets. The intensity alone dazed the martial artist for a moment before he recovered, spinning around and running to the opposite ledge of the bridge to find its source. The sight made his blood run cold, and for the first time in a good long time, Ranma _feared_ as he tracked an angry, incandescent ball of fire clawing its way into the sky some fifty kilometers out.

The panicked riot breaking out below went unnoticed to the teen as he stared at a sight impressed into every Japanese youth from a very young age. The monstrous inferno curled in upon itself as it rose higher, forming into the classic mushroom cloud the analytical portion of brain was expecting while the ground around the site was consumed in a wave of fire. He watched, and something about that wave clicked. There was something else about a nuclear blast he should be remembering; something—

_Oh shit._

He barely noticed the wave front of compressed air racing across the suburbs, flattening the weaker structures outright and washing across the sturdier ones before being channeled into the lower city streets like a thundering gale. Crystal shrieked and Ranma braced as the vortex slammed into the spires around him, shearing entire sections away from their structure while his own bridge buckled wildly beneath his feet. Any pedestrian that had been on the bridge with him was instantly carried away and the martial had no time to marvel at the lack of physics being imposed on his person when another flash lit off further in the distance, spawning a second nuclear inferno. Then a third. This time he caught the streamers of atmosphere descending from on high as a fourth and fifth detonated, his eyes following their vectors from the sky.

_Who the hell is dropping these things?!_

Any speculation on the matter ceased as number six detonated less than twenty kilometers out, vaporizing the northern suburb as it is had never existed and sending a tidal wave of fire washing into the outer edge of the great crystal city. Skyscrapers burned and shattered as unfathomable heat transferred into their structures and another blast wave exploded across his bridge, tearing it away from its supports while the kilometer high building above him began to crumble black shards.

The bridge was blown away. Ranma simply fell, shocked that the same energy hadn't expended itself on his person as well. He twisted around and prepared for a hard landing, only to be surprised again as he touched down in crouch without nearly as much inertia as he should have impacted with. _Maybe something to do with Meiou-san's--_

_CRUNCH!_

One moment, he had been standing up from his crouch; the next, silvery-white filled his vision before forcing him tumbling across the ground. Ranma recovered and stared at the giant piece of smoldering crystalline scaffolding that had literally landed on his head. Sirens wailed around him and secondary explosions lit off as Ranma began to gain a better understanding of the physics governing him. _Okay, can't touch anything and can't be blown away, but if somethin' bigger occupies the same space as me, I get forced out of it..._

Another all consuming flash lit the angry, grayish red sky. Light reflected through the scorched remains of the crystal skyscrapers, illuminating the burning streets and panicked survivors in a sickly light for a moment before darkening once more. Bodies and air pods had been deposited at uneven angles up and down the boulevard among the survivors while fire had ignited anything flammable. Another fifty meter slab of crystal flaked off from far above, crashing into the ground down and into another group of people, crushing them instantly. Ranma _stared_. He had seen property damage in his day and even participated in the demise of two mountains, but none of those had involved any sort of mass casualties like he was witnessing now. The people he had been watching had simply _ceased to exist_.

"Heeelllppp... heeeee...." A weak voice hissed from under a crumpled air pod and Ranma responded, running over to the deformed vehicle to find a bloodied arm reaching out from beneath. The martial artist moved to grab the chassis on instinct only to watch in horror as his hand simply passed through the structure ineffectually.

"Sonofabitch!" He snarled, frantically trying to find a hand hold on the vehicle, only to watch as the arm slacken and fall limp. _Trauma,_ he rationalized, staring in detached shock. _Would have probably died anyway..._ Ranma looked at his seemingly solid hands and a smoldering anger ignited as he thought on the person who had sent him here to witness the apocalypse.

_Me and that woman are gonna have __**words**_.

Another two dull flashes lit the sky and he judged the detonations too far away to matter by their intensity. Sirens continued to wail in the distance, and he hoped some of them were moving toward his position, if only for the sake of the wounded and buried and _especially_ given his own ineffectual state. A smaller flash lit off from above and he cringed reflexively before realizing it was too small and hadn't reflected through the remains of the city. _Help maybe?_

He searched the roiling clouds for the familiar streamlined profile of functional air pods, only to find something completely different.

_Wings._

It was at least thirty meters in length with three heads stemming from three equally long necks. Its altitude made making out fine detail against the unnatural overcast next to impossible, but it clearly had six limbs, four jagged wings and a trailing spiked tail. Ranma blinked as recognition processed. He had seen and even fought something similar before. _A dragon._ He tracked the form for a moment before another flash pulsed twenty meters to the dragon's right, belching another reptilian form. Two more flashes and another two dragons joined the growing formation, feeding the dread forming in the Saotome's gut.

_This cannot be good, _he decided as the flashed continued, adding to the draconian ranks until there wasn't at least some portion of the sky occupied by one or more of their number. They circled wide rings at altitude until some unheard signal was received, prompting them to dive in one by one. The mangle of wreckage around him prevented him from seeing their high speed plummeting, but the fiery glow and their return to altitude with flames trailing from all three mouths gave him a good idea as to what the things were doing.

They were finishing off the survivors.

"Fuck that," Ranma growled as he tracked one of the dragons dived into his portion of the burning city, lining up along the very street he stood. The target was obvious; a small group of wounded huddled at the base of nearby building. A blue aura ignited around the boy and he brought his left arm to bear on the streaking creature as it descended to rooftop altitudes. _"MOKO TAKABISHA!"_

The two meter wide ball of hardened Ki streaked out as the dragon leveled off for the terminal phase of its attack run, taking the attack squarely into its massive chest and blowing over Ranma completely unharmed. The teen's eyes widened as the ball streaked into the sky unhindered while a roar bellowed at his back, the street suddenly dancing in firelight. Screams pierced the night, but were quickly silenced.

He couldn't bear to turn back to the results of the draconic burning and instead watched as the hated beast ascended back into the heavens. _There had to be he could get out to kill that—_

Ranma's unspoken prayers were answered moments later as lines of orange stabbed into the sky, lining up with the monster and carving it in two. _YES,_ Ranma grinned ferally as the ground launched reprisal was quickly joined by other similar retaliations, dropping any dragon not fast enough to maneuver out of the sky in pieces. He savored another dragon getting bisected by a ground based lance before making a quick calculation based on his position and the view of the city he had earlier.

_Let's see, I was up there_, the martial artist determined, looking up at the ruined spires and the bridge that used to be attached. _And the beams are coming from over there._ He oriented himself back along the remains of the boulevard and came to a conclusion. _Looks like somebody's making a stand at the fancy dome..._

The martial artist advanced down the street at a rapid clip, hoping over the wreckage and purposely ignoring the bodies as he navigated the ruins. Occasionally he would pass a small groups of survivors who took no noticed of him as he bounded past, making good time toward his destination when his warning sense kicked in suddenly. Ranma skidded to a halt, freezing in place as he attempted to discern the source. _Dragons in the sky, but those beams are keeping 'em busy... _The moment afforded him notice of yet more of the surreal landscape.

_Snow?_ The flake drifted down between Ranma's eyes and touched the earth, only to disintegrate into finer powder upon impact. Ranma frowned, turning back to the sky as the flake was joined by more of its brethren. _Ash. Fallout._

Then, the very air around him shuddered and his danger sense spiked. Even though whatever it was probably couldn't affect him, Ranma braced and watched as the space no less than ten meters away folded in upon itself, distorting like a cheesy plastic mirror. It flexed once more and the first one stepped out; bony, horns, vaguely female, but clearly _not _human. The sickly purplish pink biped was immediately joined by another hunching entity, and then another. Within minutes, an entire platoon of the things had manifest themselves in the ruined street, finally joined by a taller, more intelligent looking version of the beasts. The amour and piercings all but screamed 'leader' to Ranma's intuition and he took cover behind a crystal slab on the off chance that whatever was shielding him failed in that moment. The group of nearly fifty began to spread out, sniffing at the air eagerly, like predators on the hunt.

It didn't take long for them to zero in on the nearest group of survivors.

Shell shocked and wounded, the men, women and children numbering less than fifteen simply stared, barely comprehending what they were seeing. Ranma comprehended it quite clearly.

_"RUN!"_

As if triggered by his own words, the armored female yelled something incoherent and a howl went up throughout the ranks of what he could only identify as demons. The charge commenced. It took another second for the survivors to fully comprehend the danger, but their fates were sealed. The hunters were faster, stronger, and completely without injury.

_"RUN_ YOU IDIOTS!"

They ran, for all the good it did them. Claws sprang out from the monsters finger tips and one by one, the survivors were slashed down and ripped apart before Ranma's very eyes. The children hit him the hardest and a boiling red aura began to creep along his body. The martial arts heir closed his eyes, opening up all of his formidable senses to the world around him and more importantly, to the bubble holding him captive. Another scream fed the night and he found the barrier at the very edge of his perception. Ki strobed along its surface, feeling out the width and breadth of his invisible prison.

_There._

A fault.

Ranma's index finger extended as howling and killing intent filled the air around him. His whisper was heard by no one else.

_"Bakusai Tenketsu."_

_**BOOOOoooMMM!**_

The three nearest youma were turned to paste by the resulting explosion, simply disappearing in the resultant cloud of debris. The lead youma whirled around, watching it dissipated to reveal a boy staring death into her with cool blue eyes. His arms were already crossed at the chest to form an 'X' and his words would be the last she'd ever hear.

"Now it's time to die."

* * *

**S**etsuna Meiou sighed as another holographic log scrolled in the space before her, dumping its calibration information dutifully for her perusal. If one had to gauge the progress of the calibration Setsuna had set in motion nearly a week ago, it could be said to have finally arrived somewhere in the vicinity of her present day, that is to say the rise of Indus-Sarasvati empire at around 4300BC.

The Guardian sighed, polling her internal chronometer. Technically, she could have had Ranma return within five minutes of his departure, such was the malleable nature of the temporal physics she was employing in his guided tour of the past. Could have, yes, but then he would return full of questions she would be obliged to answer, further stalling the Time gate's return to one hundred percent operational status. With that in mind, she set a delay of five hours; more than enough time to ensure everything on her end was set by the time the temporal bubble completed its round trip.

Still, it was damn boring.

"Gate, I'm going to take a break," She decided, pinching her nose. "Spot check grids—"

"Warning," The pleasantly smiling girls eyes widened. "I am detecting a power fluctuation in Saotome's temporal buffer."

"Reinforce it," Setsuna frowned, mulling over what would cause the aberration.

"Complying," the girl nodded. Suddenly her eyes turned red and posture stiffened, "Temporal buffer breached! Time wave detected; thirty two hundred chronoms in strength!"

"Time to impact?" Setsuna whirled around as the requisite information was conjured before her. One of the images was a three dimensional composite of their timeline and branching probabilities with the time wave moving alone it like a spike.

"Thirty seconds," The child AI reported, its eyes scrolling with data now. "Temporal shielding reads nominal, no exponential rise in the event. I should be able to deflect its potential."

Setsuna's attention flicked away from the three dimensional image to another, this one showing the status of Ranma's own temporal buffer. _If I can stabilize it and return him to..._ her cheek twitched. The bubble was _gone_. Completely destroyed. _That means... _

"Emergency recall, NOW!"

"Impact, minus twenty," the AI counted. "Attempting to resolve Saotome's time-space coordinates... Wave interference preventing a lock."

_Damndamndamndamn_, Setsuna fumed as she watched the time wave advance into their present. The good new was that it wasn't gaining in strength. Thirty two hundred chronoms was well within the time gate's ability to compensate for, though it might not be the last. The bad news, however...

"Impact, minus five."

...The bad news was that Ranma Saotome was now capable of participating in the Fall of the Silver Millennium.

_"Impact."

* * *

  
_

"**I**mpact," A soldier in gray speckled fatigues called from behind a curved holo-visor that wrapped around his eyes, surveying the a singular explosion along the advancing youma lines with digital enhancement. "Short fifteen meters."

"Got it," Another rushed to make recalculate the trajectory, feeding the new calculations in through a holographic keyboard at the side of the side of the cannon. "Fifteen meters... mark."

"Fire for effect."

_**CRaCK!**__**CRaCKCRaCKCRaCKCRaCK!!**_

The massive tri-barreled artillery piece made a slight adjustment to its angle at the operator's command, then rotated one barrel clockwise before spearing the radioactive twilight with a half megaton ball of plasma. It was immediately followed by another and then a third as the massive weapon came up to speed, dispensing white hot death along the demonic advance. The Lieutenant smiled as the front line disappeared, immolated by the white firestorm unleashed at a range of eight hundred meters. It was a short lived smile as the thunder halted abruptly after only twenty salvos, and more youma flowed forth to replace their brethren.

"Crystals in cool down," The gunner reported evenly, even though the red hot glow of the heat sinks fins along the massive weapon's chassis indicated the obviousness of the statement. "Live in ten seconds!"

"Override the bitch," He snarled, watching as the range indicator painting his target decreased steadily even though other positions were pouring in similar fire into their lines. "I need thirty pulses out of Lena or those youma are going to bend Fire Line three over hard."

"We're pushing the curve as it is, LT," The gunner replied nervously, but programmed in the necessary override. The alternatives were worse by far. "She's gonna kick our ass for this."

_"Fire."_

The cannon whirled to life again as the thunder began anew, blasting the advancing demons into fire and atoms. The officer mentally counted the bolts as they arced in, gritting for each count over twenty. Jax was spot with the warning, and he knew his position couldn't keep up this rate of fire without something happening; something _bad_.

The best case scenario was watching one of the controllers fry out. The worst case was an overstressed projector crystal overheating and blasting them all into the next life. They had already pushed those odds by executing over eighty back to back fire missions; twenty five past the recommended rotation cycle.

_Twenty eight... twenty nine... THIRTY._

"Cool down, ten seconds," Even his gunners voice drained of tension as the cycle completed and the Barrier Cannon known unofficially as 'Lena' powered down. One look at the heat fins told them both everything they needed to know. Every last one was lit up like a filament. A normal cool down cycle wasn't going to be enough and the Lieutenant knew that the artillery piece only had a couple more cycles left in her. Still, it was either that or become youma food.

The lieutenant flipped the visor mic down over his mouth. "Battery command, this is aught eighty-eight, respond."

"Go." a female voice crackled back

"Lena's about to fold," He reported, staring as the heat sinks dimmed to a mere smoldering red. "Got about one, maybe two more cycles before catastrophic failure."

Silence pervaded the line for a few moments before the disembodied woman came back on line. "Acknowledged. Tie her into the command net and proceed to Fire Line Three."

_Damn,_ the officer grimaced. He had been hoping the order would be to fall back to secondary positions. Of course, that assumed there were secondary positions to fall back _to._ "Roger, will call shots from fire line, out."

His gunner heard that the conversation as well, likewise frowning while his commander mentally coaxed his com to another channel. "Aught eighty-eight to Warhammer, respond."

"Warhammer." The male voice crackled though the sound lance fire.

"Last salvo, prepare for action." The lieutenant reported and the cussing that followed from the other end of the channel was intense, causing him to smile grimly. "That's what I said. We're coming down."

He turned back to his gunner, closing the channel by flicking the mic back away with a finger. "Pack it up, Jax!"

"Roger that!" He piped, tapping furiously along the keyboard. "Establishing direct command link... Done. Lena's on the wire."

The gunner pulled a pack and gun from a side compartment, strapping the former to his person and flicking a switch on the latter, causing it to whine ominously while his commander did the same. Both men slapped a crudely painted depiction of a redheaded woman wielding a fireball painted on the side of the Barrier Cannon for luck, then proceeded down the hillside they had been stationed on for the last six hours.

Visible now was the entire field of battle in all its glory from their new vantage point, as tides of youma advanced through the ruins Luna Ray while fire dropped in from other fixed positions. Lances of orange continue to spear the sky as they tracked the infernal dragons attempting to strafe the troops on the front lines, which just happened to be their destination as well. Occasionally the youma ranks would press close enough to be engaged by conventional beam weaponry, only to be sliced apart by the infantry dug in behind crysteel barriers.

Less than five minutes later, they were inside the front, the lieutenant saluting a commander clad in full crystalline battle armor. "Nice of you to join us down in Hell, Logan."

"Wouldn't miss it," The officer shook his head with the sarcasm, then grew serious. "Call your last shots."

The commander turned back to the field while mentally pulling up his own image of the battle field via internal hologram. "Six hundred meters out, straight ahead. Walk your gun across five degrees to clear that shit they're falling back to."

Lieutenant Logan pulled the commanders map, noting that the "shit" he was referring to used to be a prominent financial district, their buildings little more than burnt out husks being used for cover. He nodded to his gunner, who had flipped down his own mic.

"Aught Eighty-eight to Battery Command, slew to one-four five by one eighty six, elevation thirty." He called in the programming to battery command. "Walk fire five degrees left over ten seconds, confirm."

"Confirmed." A man responded this time.

"One round, execute." He ordered and the gun boomed from the hill at their backs, launching a single mini nova into the overcast and anti air fire. It arcing back down and slamming into one of the offending structures beyond, obliterating it. The lieutenant watched the impact and gave the gunner a single nod. He keyed the channel again. "Full salvo, fire for effect."

The gun was fully automated now and responded to Battery Command's programming, lighting up the sky. Thirty pulses blasted out over the next ten seconds, turning whatever cover the advancing youma army had been using into incandescent balls of fire that sprang up violently across a length of one hundred meters.

"Zero Eight-Eight in cool down, ten seconds." The command channel operator reported and the Lieutenant turned to the line commander by his side.

"Might want to tell your boys and girls to hunker down for this one," He crooked a smile.

"Give us some breathing room with whatever you got left, then," The Commander nodded, turning back to his line and the troops firing from it with a bellow. "HAMMERS, PREPARE FOR CLOSE FIRE SUPPORT!"

"One hundred meters off the line," The officer relayed to his gunner. "Walk it out."

"Got it," He replied, keying his mic. "Aught Eighty-eight to Battery Command, modify seventy degrees elevation, transverse down three degrees over fifteen seconds."

"Confirmed."

"Fire for effect," He ordered, purposely skipping the test round.

_**CRaCK!**__**CRaCKCRaCKCRaCK—BOOOOOOM!**_

Ten rounds of plasma successfully exited the tri-barrel artillery piece. Round number thirteen was formed successfully and transmitted into a projector crystal, where its energy resonated catastrophically along a hairline crack in barrel number two. A half megaton's worth of plasma flared and detonated along the fault, vaporizing the barrel and shattering crystals one and three in the process.

Lena disappeared in lethargic fireball, raining her displeasure down along the dug in troops expecting the event. Lieutenant Logan Asazi didn't even bother to take cover as he watched his artillery piece disappear into a piecemeal mushroom cloud. Still, the ten rounds that it had successfully spawned had their effect, flashing out into the encroaching youma and carving a two hundred meter corridor of death into their advance. Demons died by fire, their instant immolation rallying confidence through the ranks. It was a short lived confidence. Ground was burned and monsters reduced to ash, but more took their place.

"Was afraid of that," The Commander frowned, staring through the magnified image of his own visor. He flipped it up, ignoring the questioning look from the Lieutenant and turning to one of his own officers on the line. "Brockman! Get everything we got left down here, yesterday!"

The officer nodded and was gone, leaving the Commander to explain to the former artillery officer. "Something smart out there noticed your gun cook off and they're doubling their efforts along our front. Shit's about to hit the antimatter."

Lieutenant Asazi digested the turn of events then flipped his own com down. "Oh-eight-eight to battery command, requesting fire mission for Fire Line Three."

The line remained silent for a moment before crackling back. "Negative Oh-eight-eight. All batteries are fully engaged."

One look at the sky told him that. Every hilltop was alive with fire, sending bolts of plasma arcing off into discrete points along the horizon with minimal downtime. The pulsing whine of lance fire picked up in intensity around him.

"Nothing?" Commander Forge held him with a grim look, to which he replied with the barest nod. The officer chuckled tersely as more soldiers rushed passed to take positions along the line. "Artillery support is overrated anyway… Mister Reynolds!"

A hunching sergeant materialized at the commander's side, offering an abbreviated salute as the graying officer pulled a short crystal blade from his left hip and sliding it into place along the underside of his lance, locking it into place with a snap. "Pass the word: Slack fire and suck 'em in; max fire on my command."

The soldier was off with quick nod and Commander Forge flicked a switch on his weapon, eliciting a high pitched whine as it powered up before turning back to Asazi. "Grab a blade. We're going to be ass deep in youma any minute now."

The artillery captain scrambled to a nearby weapons rack as the old soldier faced his lines, the same lines the demonic horde was now drawing perilously close to. Sporadic fire continued to check their advance, but the hellish machine continued to grind forward with renewed purpose. There was no artillery support along this front and the intelligence driving the Youma had spotted the weakness with ruthless efficiency.

"_RRRrrrraaaAAARRRRRRHHH!"_

Commander Forge nodded to himself as the expected surge from the unholy army closed within one thousand meters of his own. They were charging at full speed now, fully expecting to shatter his position. _They might do just that,_ the veteran reasoned grimly. Attrition was going to be a bitch to overcome, but he be damned if there'd be enough of the monsters left to make an effective drive into One Senate Square and the Queen herself.

"WARHAMMERS! READY ON THE LINE!"

The heavy lances his men had held in reserve for just this moment came to bear, their sharp points probing outward from the crysteel barriers even as soldiers with more conventional weapons picked out their targets. Their orders had been communicated with absolute clarity… Max fire on command, no need for power conservation.

The commanding officer watched unflinchingly as the demonic horde closed the distance with all the unnatural speed infernal weapons of war could attain. Sensors duly noted the range tick down for him and the Hammer's fire continued to maintain its harassing effect. Eight hundred meters. Seven hundred. Six… Five… _Close enough._

"_FIRE!"_

The lead ranks of the charging youma ceased to exist as a wall of blue light washed across it and through several more behind them. The high energy lances danced and weaved lines of energy fire into the mass, incinerating the possessed Terran population and lesser youma outright while maiming anything mounting anything less than field plate. To the casual observer it would have looked like a complete slaughter, except for the fact that the youma just kept coming. It was a slower advance now, but it was still an advance and Field Commander Forge watched as the range continued to tick down to four hundred meters.

The larger six legged demons were the hardest to bring down as they lumbered onto the field of battle. Oh sure, they were probably the easiest target to engage, but the they were all horns, fangs and wore several inches of what looked to be vorium plating, in addition to having some caster-type demon protecting them with their own personal force field.

Forge's cheek ticked with the observation. Those would make life _difficult_ if even one survived to their lines.

"KILL THE RIDERS!"

_Three hundred meters._ The lumbering siege youma were going down, but not fast enough. There were a dozen or so visible from his position alone and every lance expended upon them was one less to divert the tide of lesser youma streaming around them. It really didn't matter which would reach them first because the outcome would be the same either way. The cost of this push for the enemy would be enormous. _But compared to the gains,_ the officer thought grimly to the foregone conclusion. _What's a few thousand youma when you could simply summon more from whatever hell they were gating in from? _

A guided hyper velocity rocket penetrated the shielding of another siege youma, blowing a massive chunk out of its left flank and completely tearing off two legs. It continued to lumber on, albeit at a crippled pace.

_Two hundred meters._

"Platoons Three, five and Eight, fall back to the slope," The veteran keyed his mic, opening a channel to his men and women on the line. "Set up covering fire along the ridge." Battle armor began to file past him to take up their secondary positions and he mentally nudged his comm back to the command channel. "Warhammer to Grandstand, priority."

"Grandstand, go."

The commander loosed a labored sigh as the signal crackled back. "We're about to get sacked here. Recommend moving available units into One Senate Square to route the break through, over."

The line remained silent for a moment, giving the line's senior officer a chance to look out into the demonic horde pushing against beamed annihilation.

_One hundred meters._

"Negative, Warhammer…"

_Negative!? If command didn't get anything into position--!_

"…Hold what you got, special assets inbound."

_Hold what we've got?_ The Captain watched the youma line throw itself against his line of fire. Sure, they were dying, but not nearly fast enough to stop the inevitable breach. Whatever those inbound special assets were—

_**BOOOoooM!**_

"_Sparkling Wide Pressure!"_

A bolt of shimmering blue streaked down from the sky and detonated within the lead most ranks of the demonic advance, wavering momentarily in compression before detonating violently. Anything at ground zero was instantly turned into a fine mist as a wave of over pressure washed across front, causing the infernal charge to stagger. Even as the dome of pressure continued to expand and rend youma limb from limb, another bolt fell deeper into the monstrous tide, gutting their forces in depth. The two blasts expended themselves and a solid beam of light blue energy followed, carving trenches through the earth and bisecting the survivors with uncanny accuracy.

A grim smile formed along the Captain's lips as three women dropped into the decimated ranks and began to unleash magical devastation at ground level. "Two, five and eight, back on the line! I'll be damned if the Senshi find us sitting back here sipping cocktails while they clean house!"

Lance fire poured into the surviving forces around the Senshi with renewed intensity, increasing the youma casualties at an exponential rate. The slaughter continued unabated for another five minutes before the horde's moral broke completely, sending the demonic force into a terrified retreat.

_For now,_ the Captain mused darkly as the survivors were cut down and the Queen's Guardians withdrew to his lines. The Damned would undoubtedly regroup, reinforce and attack this front again. The grim smile found his lips once more as the trio of Senshi made their way towards him. _But they'd damn sure think twice about their next assault after the pasting they just received_.

"Commander Forge," He snapped to attention as the women closed on him, introducing himself. "Thank you for your timely intervention, Guardians. It might have gotten a little… _hairy_ otherwise."

"Our pleasure, Captain," The blue haired woman nodded; _Mercury_, he noted silently. "What is the current status of your forces?"

"Attrition warfare is wearing us thin, Guardian Mercury," He shook his head taking the three women in as a whole. Her partner was a lithe blonde, balancing an immense crystal broad sword on her right shoulder. Beside her was a slightly taller brunette with no weapons to speak of, though it had been her initial salvo that broke up the youma advance. _Senshi Venus and Senshi Jupiter…_

"My command is looking at forty percent casualties since the invasion kicked off and we just lost our main heavy battery. That last push bit hard into our energy reserves too… We'll probably need to rotate our forces in sooner for recharge since that's probably not the last push we'll see from the bastards."

"They're pressing us hard on every front," The blonde's blue eyes flashed fiercely. "We were on our way to try and flank their forces when we got word of what was happening down here."

"I'm just happy the Queen was able to collapse the gates they were lobbing nukes in from," The Senshi of Jupiter frowned, looking back out across the youma armies that were regrouping on the horizon. "Speaking of which, are they still holding to the southeast?"

"Still holding," Mercury confirmed, consulting her hand held uplink to the Lunar mainframe. "I'd almost say they're staging forces in the core of the city, but they're too far behind the main line to reinforce anything effectively."

"Then we go with the original plan," Venus nodded, bring the sword off her shoulder and slicing it dramatically through the air. "We'll start with that group and gut their front lines from behind."

"I'll stay behind here for heavy fire support," The brunette added. "Last thing we need is a break through during our shining offensive, right?"

"Right," Venus smiled, levitating into the air. Mercury followed her lead as a soft glow enveloped the two. "Let's go and take them out before they know what hit them!"

Both girls were suddenly gone with the Senshi's proclamation, disappearing across the horizon in pink streaks of light. Jupiter and the Captain watched the pair disappear before turning to one another, the veteran smiling.

"Welcome to Fire Line three, Guardian Jupiter."

The brunette smiled back, eyes twinkling. "The pleasure is all mine."

* * *

"**T**hree kilometers out," Mercury advised to her counterpart as the pair streaked through the air, dodging the occasional anti-air fire salvo sent up at them. "Still concerned about those high power spikes, though."

"All the more reason to flatten them before they get out of hand," Venus commented as they descended into the general airspace of their target. "Time to—"

A series of flashes from within the ruined city core halted her next words and one of the smaller buildings suddenly sank into the skyline lethargically.

"What the _hell?_"

"Indeed," Mercury murmured softly as they threaded through the devastated city and toward what was obvious shaping up to be a battle in progress before them. She flipped her battle visor down and began to take readings. "Reading three hundred and fifty two youma and…" Her voice took on a note of surprise. "…One human."

"I gotta see this," Venus decided, gaining altitude and a better view of the conflict. Anybody out in the open with anything less than full field plate and a high yield plasma lance was youma food. Anybody still alive without that gear or a planetary binding had to be seen to believed.

At four hundred meters, the combatants were little more than speck among the burnt out remains of sky scrapers and streets, but the war they were waging was obvious. What the Guardian saw had all the hallmarks of a slaughter, except for the fact that despite being completely surrounded on all sides, that one person was successfully holding off a substantial force of youma. Her eyes widened as two blue flashes of energy launched away the center, ripping through the demon masses to the front and left.

"Correction, three hundred and _forty-one_," Mercury reported, floating up along side her to view the action. "That's pure life force he's fighting with…"

"A Ki-dancer?" Venus wondered aloud, whistling with incredulity. "Don't see those everyday…." She looked at her partner with a feral smile. "Shall we?"

Mercury shared in her smile to a lesser degree. "We shall."

"_Mercury Aqua Mirage!"_

"_Venus Shining Strike!"_

Three bolts of hyper dense water dropped into the throng surrounding the single human, detonating on impact to freeze the demonic horde instantly. Venus was in free fall directly behind the attack, heaving her crystal claymore directly into the earth upon landing. The already scarred street top split into a wide trench with the strike, shattering into a long crag that belched fire and rock while consuming the frozen youma outright. Mercury landed beside her and her power flared once more, this time enveloping the area in a thick mist.

"That should buy us some time," She commented, taking stock of the situation on the ground while Venus finished off the youma in her personal space. "He's thirty meters this way."

The blue haired Senshi led the way, manifesting her own sword of ice to chop down an encroaching youma while Venus covered her back, beheading another of the vaguely female demons. Its horned head rolled across the ground before flaming to ash. She glanced over her shoulder. "They're wary now, but they won't stay that way for long."

_Especially not with a Ki dance running around_, she mused grimly. Somebody with that much organized life force was all but a flashing holo screaming 'EAT ME' to any demon that happened by.

Another of the beasts jumped out of the fog, only to take a spear of ice to the chest courtesy of her partner. It fell and two more charged in blindly from the mist, homing in on the noise. Venus whirled around with her blade, only to watch a girl blur in and take the lead demon with a flying roundhouse, diverting it hard into the ground before lining up with the other. It closed to point blank range and seemed almost ready to claw her down before its victim melted around to its exposed right flank, raking its torso with the knife edge of her hand before disengaging completely. The Youma staggered for a moment before sliding apart into two separate pieces along the exact line the girl had touched. The first youma staggered to its feet, only to have a gaping whole blown into its chest for the effort. It looked at the wound, then the girl who had nonchalantly dispensed the lethal Ki blast, then fell to ground inert.

"I thought you said 'he'," The Guardian blinked while the redhead ignored them, scanning for more targets. Mercury checked the readings from her hand link. _He_ was obviously a _she_, since the shredded clothing left little to the imagination. _She_ was also wounded, cut in several places and trailing blood from numerous claw marks.

"That's what the scan said…" The guardian looked at the readings, perplexed. _Same life force profile, different gender. Odd. _

"Yeah, I get that a lot," The clearly exhausted, bloody girl finally turned her attention to her would be saviors, sniffing with humor deeply at odds with her condition and the situation at hand.

_Odd,_ Mercury decided, but minor compared to the growling youma that were beginning to regain their nerve. "We need to go. Now."

"Right," The blonde nodded, turning back to the redhead. "Got enough left for a big finish?"

"Think I can scrape something together."

The Guardian smiled. "Then let's give them something to remember us by."

* * *

**T**wenty minutes ago Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts was in the fight of his life, neck deep in an unending tide of sub-human creatures looking to slaughter him as mercilessly as they had the former occupants of the ruined city they were raiding.

The feeling was mutual.

For the next hour, Ranma killed. The first duty of a martial artist was to protect those who could not protect themselves, but those people were gone. _Dead._ Cut down and devoured. Vengeance wasn't a driving force in Ranma Saotome's life, but today, stuck in the future and impossibly far from home, the slain cried out for him and he answered with every tool he had learned over the last fourteen years as a martial arts prodigy. Somewhere in the back of his brain as he cut down the first youma with the forbidden schools, he knew it was neither smart or wise decision, but somehow necessary.

The first of his attackers died by vacuum blade and Ki, but not before they could call others to the fight. Ranma killed them as well. And killed. And _killed_. At some point, the novelty of counting the slain wore off and he simply wove death through the ever increasing numbers of youma looking to feed on him. Eventually, retreat became an impossibility, but the martial artist had already resolved to take every last creature down with him… It was an easy concept to rationalize—Every demon he could tie up here was one less to scour the city for survivors, and could tie up _a lot_ of them.... Too many to survive, but he would go down with his honor intact.

Then the girls arrived. Magical girls dressed remarkably like the last time he had seen Meiou-san. Better yet, they brought firepower and as the blonde so aptly put, gave the demons something to remember them by. That was twenty minutes ago. Since then she had been carried- _flown_ –to what was apparently the last bastion of humanity, the capitol of the Moon itself. The fact that she had to be carried to a safe zone was demeaning enough, but they were probably the first live people she had seen after an hour of non stop killing, so she swallowed her pride and let them fly her out.

"Please wait here, Miss Saotome," The girl she had come to know over there short flight as simply Mercury requested politely, herding her over to sit a group of refugees that were as ragged looking as she was. "A healer will be along shortly to attend to your wounds."

"Wait," Ranma brought the girl to a halt, slightly offended at being associated with the weak and helpless. "You're just going to leave me here?"

"Unfortunately the Queen needs her Guardians on the line," The Senshi explained in a gentle, but firm manner. "And while I'm not expert on Ki-dancers, I would say you're in no condition for the high intensity combat we're about to revisit."

"New orders, Mercury-chan!" The blonde- _Venus, _Ranma recalled –shouted from across the hangar converted shelter, waving her partner over. "Back on the clock!"

Mercury bowed apologetically. "I'm apologize, we must go."

With that, Ranma watched as the blue haired girl turned on a heel and rushed to join her comrade. She watched the pair exit the shelter, dejection setting in.

"And what the hell is a Ki dancer anyway?" She mumbled before turning to the group she had been paired with. Men, women and children composed the refugees, most of which held some form shell-shock in their visage.

"Did she tell you when the healer will be by?"

Ranma blinked with unexpected question, mostly due to the fact that she had been largely ignored upon her initial arrival in the future. She looked down at the older woman in her late fifties, momentarily at a loss for words.

"Uh, no," She stumbled momentarily. "Just said she would be by soon."

"That's something, I guess," The old woman returned, then grimaced with pain. "Lord, what I wouldn't do for a nerve stim right now."

"Truer words, Dame, truer words…" Another man leaning against a nearby support groaned. The bruises threading his body explained his pain easily enough. "Though it looks like the young dame here had a bad scrap herself."

_Young dame…_ Ranma chewed in a moment of confusion before deciding the observation was direct at her_._ "Just a scratch. Get some food in me and I'll heal up soon enough."

To her surprise a small shiny rectangle was tossed in her direction, which she caught on reflex. The redhead stared at its reflective wrapper curiously.

"Keep it, got plenty plenty of them," the bruised man snorted. "Too bad they don't heal dislocated shoulders."

Ranma studied him for a moment before shrugging, "Shoulders are easy."

She knelt down beside the middle aged man and traced a single finger along the back of his shoulder, poking it once, then twice. The man gained a perplexed look. "My arm…"

"Hold still." Ranma anchored herself and shoved the arm up back into the socket, obtaining a meaty pop in the process and with it, her own nod of approval. She stood up, admiring her handiwork. "Ya should regain feeling in a few minutes, but try not to strain it too much."

The man looked up at her with wide eyes, producing a simple, surprised nod. She was about to turn her attention back to the mysterious, shiny square he had given her when a sad, rasping question caught her.

"I'm coughing up blood," A younger woman stood up, albeit unsteadily. "Can you help me too?"

"Eh…" Ranma wasn't a physician, but after years of training at the hands of her father, she knew injuries and their symptoms like the back of her hand, even if there wasn't a damn thing she could do about them. Bones could be set. Poisons countered. But unless the person in question already had a decent grasp of Ki…"Internal bleeding, I think… Look, I ain't a doctor, but—"

"But I am," A white robed woman with long cobalt blue hair smiled gently, stepping over to their group. With her was a sandy blond man in similar white slacks pushing a cart full of… _Crystals?_ Ranma stared at the captive pink shards as they pulsed rhythmically to an unheard tempo.

"I am healer Avril, and my assistant Nana," She addressed the group at large, motioning to herself and the man beside her. "We will be passing these restoration crystals around to any of those in need. One per person should suffice."

The injured filed around Ranma to take their turn at the cart as the woman and her assistant oversaw the process. Blue eyes studied the activities curiously as a person would take a single crystal in hand and watched it fade into a dull pink, healing whatever physical trauma had been present prior to their handling. The man known as Nana collected the spent crystals, stacking them in a separate compartment as others took their turn.

"_Sugoi…_" Ranma mumbled to herself, watching lacerations seal themselves with the lightest wisp of smoke. She couldn't count the number of times one of _those _could have come in handy.

"And expert job with the arm, by the way Miss… Saotome?" Ranma turned, surprised to find the woman not only looking straight at her, but calling her by name. The woman known as Avril smiled gently at the reaction. "Don't look so shocked. Guardian Venus passed your name along as a person of interest."

"Not so sure about that, but the names Ranma, nice to meetcha" The martial artist favored her with a roguish grin and a shallow bow.

"You should take a crystal too," Avril offered, picking up one and proffering it to the martial artist. "From what I heard, you could probably use it."

"Um… Okay," The redhead reached for the shard carefully. While it was damn weird, who was she to refuse an instant healing crystal thing? She plucked the shard from the Healer, only to watch it go from pink to nearly black instantly. Ranma blinked, staring at it. "Eh, it's not my fault?"

"Of course not," Avril's smile took on the slightest edge of humor. "Take another one."

She did and the pink evaporated as quickly as it had before. Ranma stared with a slightly put out look. Now she was just feeling stupid. How hard was it to touch a crystal and—

"A Ki dancer indeed," The Healer hummed, studying Ranma intently now. The pout on the martial artist's face persisted. "Oh don't worry about those things. Your life force would be far too organized to be sated by a mere restoration crystal. Hold still please…"

Sensing no threat, Ranma did as the woman asked and allowed two gentle fingers to touch her forehead. The Healer mumbled something, prompting a light blue glow to envelope her, then Ranma herself. The redhead's eyes widened as she felt foreign power roil within her, seeking out her wounds with purpose and healing them outright. One of the scab-crusted slashes along her arm hissed with steam, knitting itself back together of its own accord. Avril held her touch to the girl's forehead for another moment before disengaging.

"That should do it." The Healer nodded. "Feel better?"

"I… that was…_Yes_…" Ranma's thoughts finally formed into a coherent sentence. "But what the hell was that?!"

Avril cocked her head, staring at her as if suddenly uncertain. The look of doubt lasted only for a moment before being replaced by a smile that reminded Ranma eerily of Kasumi. "That was a lesser healing prayer, though I did manage to underestimate just how depleted you really were. A greater prayer would have been more effective."

"Uh… yeah. Sure…" Ranma dissembled, still trying to make sense of what had just happened. _Healing... that's obvious enough_, she decided, but the fact that she could actually _feel_ the repairs… "Thanks, I guess."

The woman inclined her head gracefully, then turned to her assistant. "Please assist this group with their needs. I will be back shortly." The blond nodded and Avril turned back to Ranma. "Walk with me if you would?"

"Okay?" _Sure why not,_ Ranma snorted mentally. _Not as if I'm stuck in a post apocalyptic future with anything better to do, right?_

"If I may be so bold," Ranma followed the black haired healer as she led the way around the make-shift refugee shelter, continuing their conversation. "What is a Starlight doing so far from home?"

"Starlight..?"

"I must confess I usually don't pry into others personal lives," She explained amiably, "but your duality was rather hard to miss once I wove the spell into you."

_My duality? She couldn't mean…?_ Ranma puzzled over the comment before coming to the most likely conclusion available. "Look, I really got no idea what's going on here. One moment I was on Earth, the next I'm here. If you know some way—"

The woman's head snapped around so fast it caused the redhead to stop short as green eyes fixed upon her with frightening intensity. "You can't be—Terra is--"

Ranma took a step back and the woman calmed herself with a deep breath, studying her charge with continued scrutiny. After another few moments the woman relented. "That is not information I would so easily divulge in mixed company young one, especially not with recent happenings."

"But I don't even know what recent happenings happened!" The martial artist blurted, her patience expiring abruptly. "Look, I was sent here by a Setsuna Meiou, ever heard of her? Goes by Pluto in her spare time? At least I'm hoping she's still around here in the…what?"

Avril simply stared, drawing the girl's rant to a halt. "The first name of a Guardian and Peer of the realm is not one to throw around lightly, Miss Saotome, let alone attributing your woes to her name."

"Green hair, red eyes, right?" Ranma continued, undaunted by the woman's persisting stare. "Sounds like she's still alive and kickin' at least. Probably an old maid by now though…"

"You would be ill advised—"

"Think she's around anywhere?" the redhead plowed forward, quite animated now and looking around on the off chance she would spot the person in question. "Don't suppose you can point me in the right direction, would ya?"

"One just does not go about summoning the Queen's Guardians for personal business in the middle of a war, young one," Avril frowned at the girl's impetuousness for another moment, then settled back into a stern, yet gentle countenance. "That's even assuming she's still on world, of course."

"Right. Pluto," Ranma made the obvious- if unbelievable -connection. She had been transported from an office building to the edge of the solar system then into the future and onto the moon. _Why _couldn't _Meiou-san be 'off world'?_ She though with a mental roll of the eyes. "Suppose I'd need a spaceship or something for that, though…"

Only then did she notice the paling visage of the healer. "What now?"

"You really don't know, do you…?" The woman asked softly, as if finally putting several key pieces of the girl's behavior together.

"Tellin' ya the truth, lady," Ranma shook her head seriously now. "I just got here, watched 'em light off a few bombs and kill a whole bunch of people. I took out my share of the demons but trust me when I this, I've got _no_ idea what's going on."

Avril weighed her claim for a moment before deciding to indulge the girl before her. "Those demons that you fought, they're _everywhere_. They came from Earth and a few other planets and embarked on a systematic mission to destroy all life."

"But I was just—"

"One minute the peoples of Terra were going about there lives and the next," Avril overrode the girl gently. "over ninety five percent of her population either vanished or were converted into the damned… A thriving world of over _twenty billion_ replaced by those _things_." For once, Ranma stayed silent as the telling continued, a new found pit in her stomach deepening. "They took everybody by complete surprise, attacking the seat of the kingdom and its jewels. The Queen has organized a defense, but…"

It was Ranma's turn to stare now. The woman was serious. Absolutely serious. Last she heard, Earth didn't have nearly that many people, but this was the future by every measuring stick he had found so far… _Would only make sense..._ Ranma decided, mulling over the facts. _But that means…_

"I was standing in line for the Queens Ball, if you can imagine it," Avril cut in on Ranma's darker thoughts, averting the inevitable conclusion she had been about to come to and the emotional baggage following in tow. The healer's voice took on a sadder note for her. "Adorned from head to toe in my finest when the first warnings sounded. My husband..." She gained a far away look for a moment, but snapped out of it. "I am a healer and this is a time for the living. Those other bridges are to be crossed later."

Ranma agreed with a single nod, likewise identifying the uncertain ground upon which she suddenly stood. If Setsuna was still alive, there was a good chance that the Tendos and some of the others were too… older, sure… maybe even his parents depending… Ranma banished the thought. _Like the woman said, time for that later. _

"Now, as I believe I have done you a favor," Avril continued upon noting Ranma's comprehension. "It is time for you to reciprocate; if only to simply indulge my own curiosity."

"Fair enough, I guess." The martial artist shrugged.

"Starlights are rare enough in the core worlds," The Healer appraised as they resumed their trek around the converted warehouse. "But a Ki-dancer as well? Combined with your distinct lack of knowledge concerning the current events of the moment and one can't help but to be a tad…"

"Okay, right. Think I got the idea," Ranma sighed, but honored his end of the agreement. "I ain't promisin' you'll believe me, but let's start with the fact that I think I'm in the future, sent forward my Meiou-san for God knows what reason. She said she was sending me to the past, but… Either way, I'm from Earth, don't know what a Ki-dancer is and last I checked, starlight is light from a star."

"Indeed." Avril returned in flat tone, eyebrow arched skeptically.

"Told ya so." Ranma snorted lightly. "Look, all I know is that woman—"

"_Guardian_ Pluto." The black haired woman interrupted, stressing her correct title.

"Sure, Guardian Pluto," The redhead waved past the official title as if it were inconsequential. "Is that she dumped me off here in a future getting sacked by a shit load of youma without a clue. Needless ta say, I'm kinda anxious to be meetin' back up with her."

"It is a treacherous hour for such a lack of knowledge, young one," Green eyes stared down at the girl with eerie intensity. "Though it does appear as if your heart is in the right place, however dubious your story appears at face value."

"Hey!"

She held up a patient hand, warding away further objections. "I will forward your request through the proper channels. Beyond that, I make no guarantees."

Complaint hung on the tip of the redhead's tongue but she held it in check, affording some allowance for a woman who had literally healed an hours worth of battle damage in under fifteen second. "Alright, guess that'll have to do, but what am I going to do while I wait? Ain't just gonna sit here twiddling my thumbs."

"Twiddling your…?" Avril cocked her head curiously, parsing the curious phrase aloud. Even without the common frame of social reference, she derived the meaning easily enough, shaking her head. "No, of course not. I wouldn't abide by allowing such talent sit idly by in this crisis. You may assist me with the refugees."

"Um, okay," Ranma shrugged, looking at the numerous groups of shell shocked masses. "Gotta warn ya though… I don't have any fancy tricks like the one you did for me. I can set bones, bind cuts… heck, even knock down a few poisons with the right herbs, but I don't got any cool instant healin' things like that."

"But…" Once again, the green eyes stared and the martial artist had to suppress a bout of fidgeting under their incredulous gaze. "But you're a Ki-dancer. How can you not know…?"

"Like I said," Ranma shook her head, weary of having to admit her ignorance of current events. "Don't _know_ what a Ki-dancer is let alone what they do."

The incredulous stare persisted for another moment before disappearing into neutral acceptance. "Am I correct in saying that you can manipulate your life essence?"

"Sure, Ki's easy enough," Ranma shrugged with the fact of life. Two years of Amazons, Dragon princes, Luck God martial artist, ghosts, fiancées, Phoenix people, birds and rivals had made it one.

Avril nodded with the confirmation. It would have been easy to attribute the child's reply as boasting, but she could tell the difference. The girl knew Ki and it knew her. "And what can you do with your abilities?"

"Mainly martial arts stuff," The redhead continued nonchalantly. "Can enhance strength, healing, physical attacks… stuff like that."

The healer waited for the girl to elaborate. After it became obvious that there was little else forthcoming, she press for further information. "What about the healing arts? Aura manipulation? Ki transfusion?"

"Mmmm," Ranma mulled over the question. "Can do a bit with my aura, and can heal myself pretty quickly- not as fast as you did –got special martial arts techniques…"

"But… You…. How…" The woman began to stutter, only to silence herself abruptly as Ranma watched curiously. "The utter waste of talent… its nearly criminal!"

The teen began to blink rapidly as she processed the statement. She had been expecting something along the lines of 'amazing!' or 'incredible!'. Instead she had gotten 'utter waste' and 'criminal'

"Young one… " She reigned herself in with a deep breath, leading her charge back to the main group of survivors. "Such a gift expended merely upon the combat arts is a tragic waste. It would be like the Queen herself limiting her magical talent to parties and parlor tricks."

"_Tragic waste…?_" Ranma Saotome was at a complete loss for words. Half of her was offended. She was the best, a martial arts prodigy. _Since she could walk_. Her superiority wasn't a matter of pride as most thought, it was a foregone conclusion. The other half couldn't help but to note the tantalizing possibilities…

Fourteen years… _Parlor tricks?_

Avril watched uncertainty flicker in the girl's eyes and decided to explain lest she come to the wrong conclusion. "A Ki dancer is one that can manipulate the life forces of themselves and others with absolute precision. It's known that the masters can sustain life through the most dire of injury, transfuse Ki between individuals and even manipulate the very physiology of their patients at the cellular level."

"Whoa."

"And that is but the tip of the crystal," The Healer nodded. "And why I am slightly… _unsettled_ at your complete lack formal training. Magic permeates all living things and is quite accessible to any with the desire to learn. An individual with even rudimentary control of their Ki isn't common. One with your level of control- with the ability to manipulate _life itself_ -is so rare that once identified, these children are normally schooled immediately on Endria to utilize their abilities to their destined conclusion."

The pair walked back to the initial group of refugees in silence and it was obvious to Avril that the girl was in deep thought concerning her potential and place in the world. _And right she should,_ Avril thought to herself with mental smile. The thought of a Ki dancer wasting that precious potential on the combat arts… Not that she was about to disparage her own profession, but even she was willing to admit that magical healing only went so far. Magic itself was broader and more powerful in scope, but for any application concerning raw life force, it was like using a durium hammer over a crystal scalpel. People could go into shock after being exposed to high levels of magical energy. A Ki dancer suffered no such limitations.

In a way, it made her jealous.

"Once this crisis has passed, I may be able to procure some holos on the subject," The black haired woman explained. Any little nudge in the right direction helped, in her opinion. A small smile crept across the teen's lips and Avril doubted her charge was even conscious of it. "In the meantime, you shall help me, young Starlight."

"How's that?" Ranma asked amiably, ignoring the misplaced title. It was a fair trade in her eyes anyway, one she had engaged in across many dojos growing up.

"Simply think happy thoughts and occasionally follow my direction."

"Happy thoughts." Ranma arched an eyebrow. Now the woman was a comedian.

"Ki dancer auras are highly organized," Avril continued in an instructional tone, unaware of her new assistant's skepticism. "It's common knowledge that they can affect the mood and feelings of those around them, especially useful in crisis and—" She turned around, noticing the lack of footsteps echoing behind her. She found Ranma staring after her. "I'm… taking it that you were unaware?"

Ranma shook her head silently and it was quite clear that she had just given the redhead something further to think on. "As I said, your own bearing has a high degree of influence on those around you and any marginal comfort you can provide in this darkened hour is by no means insignificant."

"I see…" Ranma returned hesitantly, kicking the new concept around mentally before adding, "…I think."

"My specialty is magic, unfortunately," Avril elaborated upon seeing the unspoken questions in the teen's blue eyes. "The details of the technique I must defer to—"

Soundless bright light flared through the warehouse windows, interrupting her and nearly blinding both healer and martial artist alike. Ranma had just enough time to mutter '_Ah shit_' before gale force winds took a hold of the structure, blowing out every window and ripping sheets of crystal from the building itself. Ranma was already falling of her own accord on reactions based on too many life or death situations to count, pulling Avril down by the collar just as one of the air born crystal scythes cleaved the air above. Anybody not on the floor within two seconds of the howling blow was cut down or otherwise eviscerated by debris while the entire front wall of had blown in. The left wall was in the process of peeling away when the storm died off to a scalding, dusty breeze.

When the martial artist poked her head up from the protective shell of her arms, she found herself under an boiling red and orange sky. Half the warehouse roof had been dismantled and burnt away. Beside him, Avril shook off the dust and attempted to find her balance. "What… What was…?"

"Another bomb, if I had to guess," Ranma likewise stood up, little worse for the wear. She frowned, scanning the devastation for threats. "And if it was anything like last time, we can be expecting company real quick."

"But the front is at least four kilometers from here…" Avril shook the away the remaining daze, looking for survivors. "They can't have gotten a weapon of that magnitude so far in!"

"Thinkin' that says otherwise," Ranma motioned to an anemic mushroom cloud floating into the already torn sky.

"Shards…" the woman whispered, finding the horizon's newest landmark as well. She stared for another moment before turning back to the bodies strewn about the crumpled structure. "Regardless, we must tend to the survivors."

The healer located the nearest signs of life- moaning from beneath a twisted mass of rubble and began to dig, pulling chucks of rock aside. "Without heavy equipment, we may not—"

The shattered beam she had been digging around suddenly lifted, revealing five of the refugees that had been spared inside a void within the debris. Three inert bodies lay with them but were ignored as all eyes, survivors and healer alike turned upon what was holding the beam up- A diminutive redhead supporting nearly one ton of crystal composite overhead with a single hand. Avril found wits first and began to pull the battered survivors from the rubble, unsure of just how long the girl could support the weight… Even if it didn't look as if she wasn't even breaking a sweat.

"Out, out, out, out…" Avril ushered gently, helping to pull them from the pocket of life. The refugees scampered out and Ranma lowered the slab, sealing the dead back within. Avril ignored the questioning survivors in favor of deferential nod to the teen. "For one who knows so little about the art, you demonstrate considerable skill in it." The red head shrugged and Avril turned her attention forming a series of hand seals that caused her to glow slightly. The pure white faded and she explained. "I have placed a minor healing ward on all you, but have no time to answer questions as there are others in need. Please remain here until further help arrives."

The questions continued regardless, but the Healer's back was already turned, fully in triage mode. She picked out the next likely group of wreckage and Ranma followed in her footsteps, pulling away the larger masses of wreckage to find more survivors.

"Are you a Senshi?"

Ranma blinked at the little blonde haired girls question as she shoved a scorched mass of scaffolding from the new pile, freeing a man and allowing Avril access to his wounds. Ranma winced internally, noting that his leg was likely a write-off and returned her attention to the dirt matted child. Under normal circumstances, she'd snort something sarcastic at being mistaken for a miniskirt clad magical girl, but this particular day was far from normal and far be it for her to crush the hope of some kid who had probably seen more death in one day than most people would in a life time. _Hell, _I've _seen more death in one day than most people would in their lifetime_, she frowned mentally, but fixed a confident smirk on her face.

"Sure am, kiddo." The martial artist was reward by the girl's glittering hazel eyes until the next quest came.

"Which one?"

"Uh," Ranma stumbled, caught flat footed. "I'm the senshi of…"

"Sailor Starlight, dear," The Healer patted the child on the head, prompting wide eye stare and a nearly inaudible groan from Ranma. "Please watch this one, child…" She motioned to the man whose mangled leg was slowly knitting back together. Now it was Ranma's turn to stare as the guy she had written off as an amputee was literally having his leg regrown before her eyes. The girl nodded while Avril continued her instructions to her. "He will need you to keep him awake, lest he goes into shock… Can you do that?"

The girl nodded once more and Avril gave her another pat on the head, turning back to her work. "With training, it is something you can do, perhaps better, young one." She pulled Ranma's attention away from the healing leg with the statement. "In any case, our window of opportunity is dwindling if we are to save as many as possible. Search what's left of the north end. I trust your eye; if you find any within my capabilities to save call me over. Those too far gone must rely on the Almighty's intervention."

Ranma nodded stiffly with the commandment. _Save who you can, and the rest…_ She ground her teeth down bitterly. _Meiou's future is really startin' to suck._

"Anybody alive in there?!"

Ranma and Avril turned to the source of the unexpected query, finding a soldier stepping into the wreckage of their former shelter. He was shortly followed by another armor clad trooper and Avril waved them over. The soldier quickly weaved through the skeletal remains of the warehouse with a grim expression.

"Honored healer, we must evacuate you and any that are able immediately," He continued breathlessly, turning back over his shoulder to check on yet more troopers filtering into the area at a staunch pace. "The lines have been breached and it is only matter of time before this position is overrun."

"The nuke?" Ranma jabbed a thumb at the dissipating mushroom cloud, earning a nod from the soldier.

"Affirmative," he acknowledged, taking a look back at the spent weapon's mark on the sky warily. "Guardian Jupiter was heavily engaged by youma when three began to glow, erecting a field around her. A forth charged in and next thing we know a one kiloton organic nuke goes off in our faces."

"More than likely wards to bring down her protections," Avril surmised, based on the details. While she was no Senshi, she was relatively certain their armor could take more punishment than that without such an advantage. "How much time do we have?"

"Not much," The soldier shook his head. "The only reason they didn't roll over us outright was because their advance takes them directly through their own blast, but they're coming. Gather anybody who can move and fall back to One Senate. The Queen and her Senshi will make their stand there."

"Then we shall as well," She confirmed, turning to Ranma. "Gather those we have found and—"

"Won't work." Avril studied the teen's stony gaze as she looked out beyond the warehouse and the passing troops. Noticing the questioning looks from both solider and healer, Ranma elaborated. "We ain't going to be that fast enough with wounded and unless your meeting spot is right around the corner, those demons will run us down just like they did the people in the city."

A muffled explosion sounded in the distance, followed by the whine of lance fire. It was still a ways off judging by the echo, but it served as notice to all three that the forces aligned against them were on the move. The soldier shook his head solemnly. "While your apprentice is more than likely correct, we cannot stay. If we do we risk defeat in detail and we cannot afford to weaken the Queen's efforts in doing so."

"Then…"

"Gather the people up," Ranma replied, cracking her knuckles. "I'll see what I can do to buy ya some time."

"Girl, if the entire Queen's 83rd and a Senshi couldn't hold that line, what makes you think—"

"I come with references." A hard blue glow suddenly erupted from the girl, stopping his misgiving cold.

Confidence. _Absolute_ confidence. Avril could feel it waft around her like a blanket, leaving her no doubt that this girl before her would hold the line for as long as it took. _Of course she would_, she thought to herself in a reproving tone. You don't catch the eye of a Senshi without something of note, and whatever she lacked as a traditional Ki dancer, the ability shone like a sun within her. In that moment, she came to a decision herself.

"Have your men gather the survivors and take them with you," She replied, shocking the trooper even further. While a Healer didn't have an official rank, they carried considerable clout and Avril used that clout now. She looked down at Ranma with a knowing smile. "_We_ will hold the line here."

Whether it was the Ki dancer's aura affecting her decision or her own flawed judgment, she wasn't about to let a girl barely in the prime of her life face a horde of youma alone while she retreated to safety.

The soldier boggled for a moment before regaining his wits. "Honored healer, I beg you to reconsider. We will escort you to---"

"We will remain here."

"Both of you?" He looked from Healer to teen with a frown. Neither moved an inch. "Then I guess it can't be helped then." He turned to one of the passing groups of soldiers. "Sergeant Nax!"

One of the soldiers parted company with his group, running up to them. "Sir?"

"Five volunteers, one in full plate," He ordered, passing along his own initial surprise to the non-com who in turn did a double take of the glowing red head. He smiled grimly. "The Healer and her assistant are intent on buying the survivors enough time to rendezvous at One Senate."

"You told 'em how stupid that is, right?" The shorter Sergeant sighed, looking back across the terrain they had just retreated. The sounds of warfare were drawing closer. The Captain simply nodded and the trooper shrugged, turning back to his group. He paused, looking squarely at Ranma. "What's with the nightlight?"

"She's a Ki dancer, you wit," The officer snapped back while Ranma blinked. "Now get those volunteers before I feed you to the youma on our asses." The trooper winced, hurrying away while the officer turned back to the women. "My apologies for the coarse language, honored dames."

Avril simply arched an eyebrow and Ranma shrugged. It was less than a minute before the sergeant returned with _ten_ volunteers. The officer simply rolled his eyes. "Nax, did momma drop you as a child? What part of 'six' don't you understand?"

"Tell that to these new math children, Cap." The mousy non-com snorted. "I say six, I get ten. Wish my paycheck was like that."

"Don't like youma taken down civvies, Sir." A large black man rumbled, made even larger by the exoskeleton of heavy weapons and sloping armor he was wrapped in.

"And I like the shitty odds," One of the soldiers toward the back quipped, earning a few chuckles. Even Ranma couldn't help but to smirk a bit. These were her kind of people. They may not have been martial artists, but they had the code and that made them _fine_ company.

"All well and good, but we're not pulling some heroic Captain Nebula last stand shit here," The Captain smiled grimly, but shook his head. "Let there be no mistake, this is a token delaying action at best. Anybody standing here in ten minutes is going to get rolled by that horde behind us and the Queen needs everybody else back at One Senate yesterday. If you've got family, hit the road."

Only two people left the group and the officer let another sigh. "Michal, Anako, Norris, nice try. I'll make it an order if I have to." Two more walked away. A thin, pale man in combat armor remained. "You want a court martial, Anako?"

"Sure, why not," The soldier shrugged passively. "Better than the look my wife will give me when she finds out I let some kid be youma food."

"The Queen's army is filled with goddamn idiots today, Nax," The officer grumbled, to which the Sergeant smiled widely.

"Each an every goddamn one of us."

He stood silent for a moment, staring at the men he was more than likely about to sacrifice to unholy army beating down their door step. The officer nodded. "Sergeant, round up the survivors. Don't stop until you see the throne itself, got that?" For the first time since their introduction, Ranma watched the soldier only known as Sergeant Nax straighten up, losing his casual demeanor. He saluted and was away with his task, leaving the group. The officer slung his rifle up, flipping down his combat visor.

"Then let's be about it," he ordered, losing any trace of humor. "Cross fire there, there and there," He continued, pointing out strategic locations in the rubble. "Camber, your armor is long range fire support on my command," The black man nodded and sauntered off at an awkward gait as afforded buy the heavy power armor he wore. "Dame Healer, you're going to be a busy woman. Stay low and keep us topped off. You," He paused at Ranma, who regarded him with thinly veiled humor.

"I'll be right here."

"Really," The officer arched an eyebrow, then turned to Avril. "Ma'am, would you care to advise your apprentice on just how hazardous it would be to her health to stand in the middle of a youma advance?"

"I sincerely doubt she would listen," Avril retorted, then gained a thoughtful expression. "Tell me, Captain… have you ever seen a Ki dancer trained in the combat arts?"

The officer opened his mouth, then paused, looking at the red head. "Can't say that I have, actually."

"Then I suspect we'll both be in for a show."

"Uh-huh," The officer deadpanned, fixing Avril with a gaze, then the teen a full head shorter than himself before shaking his head and turning back to his squad. "Whatever. Keila, Anako, arc mines up and down their corridor of advance. Get creative. We'll want to bleed them as much as possible before they get here, got it?"

The remainder of his troops left with haste, leaving the officer to stare at the redhead, affecting a putout look. He unholstered a shiny side arm that looked like a pistol, but ended at a tapered point and proffered it to her. "Sure you don't want a lance or something? The little ones don't have much kick…"

The teen looked at the weapon skeptically, "Nah. Long as your guys know how to shoot, I'll be fine."

"Suit yourself. Alright, Here's how…" The Captain trailed off as a dull rumble began to fill the air and he glanced beyond their makeshift position and out into the growing cloud of dust beyond their immediate skyline. "They're early. POSITIONS, PEOPLE!"

All preparation halted as his meager squad took cover in the rubble of the hollowed out warehouse, setting up the crossfire. He eyed the redhead again, who stood in her seemingly nonchalant stance waiting. It was getting irritating, really. "You're just gonna _stand_ there."

"Sure," Ranma shrugged, amused by his irritation. "Just keep 'em off me while I set the spiral up."

_Spiral? Was she going to set up a seal or something?_ He stared at her, wondering if the girl had a concussion or shell shock. Either way, it didn't matter. "Do what you're going to do, but make it fast. We don't have the firepower to hold a new front." He turned back to Avril. "Dame Healer, on me please."

The squad of six settled into position amongst the rubble to stake out their lines of fire, leaving the redhead alone in the open. The bored look on her face was a mask born out of years of practice, the goal of which was to provoke an opponent into rash action. Inwardly, however, she was a coil of dread and excitement, having a new purpose beyond simply fighting for its own sake. There were innocent people behind her and it was her duty as a martial artist to ensure they got to safety…

…By whatever means necessary.

The first youma came out of the lingering cloud of dust, the martial artist noting that it looked similar to the others she had already slain; that is to say a gangly mass of horns, teeth and vaguely female in appearance. It was running flat out, not as fast as she could have, but still charging forth at a respectable speed when a beam of light suddenly sliced through open air, felling the beast with a headshot. Ranma watched it tumble to the ground lifelessly and another of its brethren raced forth. Behind it, two more. Soon ten. Fifteen. The number ceased to matter at some point as piecemeal charge plowed forward in spite of the beamed weaponry strategically picking them off. The advanced closed to three hundred meters, crossing another burnt out building when the three story structure suddenly exploded at the foundation, sending the already precarious structure collapsing down across the demon charge. A score of the creatures were instantly crushed, but more flowed around the spent trap. It wasn't an organized charge or even a loose formation, but they ran headlong, completely intent on the glowing meal of life force before them…

…And completely oblivious to the corridor of arc mines set up in their path. The first one detonated as the leading elements passed the two hundred meter mark, startling the martial artist with the bright blue flash and streamers of light that burst forth like glowing silly string that passed through youma like warm butter. Another score was cut down and more took their place, only to encounter more of the devices at the one hundred and fifty meter mark. Two more pulses flashed and once more, the disorganized charge was checked, buying precious seconds while lance fire continued to snuff out more of their ranks at random.

More youma joined the charge, trampling over the survivors and funneling into the skeletal remains of the empty warehouse. There was life force ahead. Lots of it. The fact that it was all concentrated into one person mattered little to the nearly brainless foot soldiers. It was there to be devoured and damn the fact that it was all being held within one of the best martial artists to have walked in any time period.

"Max fire, go!" the commander yelled across the unit's channel as the final arc mine lit off at the one hundred meter mark. He flipped the selector switch on his Damadra T80 Assault lance from single fire to full auto with a light click, and began dumping 105 decawatt bursts into the already disorganized advance while the rest of his troopers did the same. Lightning poured into the kill zone and for a precious moment, the mindless charge stalled out. Intellectually the Captain knew it couldn't last. There were more behind these and still more behind those. Eventually there would be just too damn many and they would simply roll over this position like a tide.

_But until then… _he smiled a grim smile and hosed the area with plasma from cover, mowing down anything that stood more than waist high. And through it all, that redhead simply stood there. Less than fifty meters from the chaos. Nonchalant like there wasn't a care in the world_. No body armor, no weapon, no magic… She's either insane or fucking nuts_, he decided, continuing his sweeps.

"Reinforcements coming up, Cap." The officer's ear piece crackled and he angled for a better view from his prone position, Avril peeking out from behind him. Sure enough another loose rank was charging into the kill zone, heedless of the slaughter before them. _Deadly, but brainless_, he surmised, mowing down another three with his lance. Perfect for establishing high casualty beachheads, but not much else.

"Dammit!" his earpiece squawked as two of the youma slipped through their shared field of fire to challenge the redhead directly. _Not gonna make it not gonna make it not gonna make it_, the officer's brain screamed as he pulled away from his current target and attempted to sight the youma closing to knife range on the redhead. He was just drawing the bead of his reticule down on the first beast when the girl sidestepped the lead demon and slashed at it with her hand. What looked like a clean miss blurred the air and the youma fell into two distinct parts, quickly followed by its brethren. "Sonofa—"

"Using her own chi as a wind—Oh!" The Healer over his shoulder remarked with no small amount of amazement as the girl extended that same hand and let loose a bolt of crystal blue light into another group of four that had made it past the screen of fire, reducing the them and the ground they stood upon component pieces.

"I thought you said she was a Ki dancer, not a mage!" The Damadra kicked into the captain's shoulder as he resumed firing, walking plasma across another group of interlopers. More continued to press their invisible line, slipping through for the redhead to kill in that annoying nonchalant manner of hers.

"Pure Ki!" Avril correct, transfixed as the girl danced around two of the demons while dispatching a third, fourth and fifth with her elemental wind blade technique. "There are no magic in those attacks whatsoever!"

"Would still rather have a mage on tap," He grunted, lighting off the weapon in another three second burst before keying the unit channel. "Camber! Burn 'em down!"

Thirty meters away, a walking tank trudged out from behind a pile of warehouse wreckage; bring its arms to bear on the still stalled youma ranks. On those arms, two large bore cannons unfolded, separating into three distinct segments that began to rotate at high speed.

"Consider the bitches _burned_."

Visible detail around the power armor washed away as the two weapons lit off, sending what amounted to thirty centimeter angry yellow spheres of plasma downrange at a rate of five per second. Even as the stream of yellow white death incinerated their intended targets, two larger pods on the armor's shoulders cracked open. Blast plates slid away, revealing the curvature of the no less than thirty warheads.

The initial onslaught of fire startled Ranma so much that she couldn't help but to step back and trace the devastation back to its source, the ebony soldier completely encased in massive thick plates and flashing heavy weapons. The shoulder mounts slid away to reveal their ordinance as well and Ranma instinctively knew with their deployment, it was nearly time to make her move. The thought had only just finished forming when all thirty missiles were ejected from the power armor, belching fire as they ripped away from their pods. Blue eyes tracked the projectiles as they flew overhead in a ballistic arc, their glowing streamers finding a new home in the back of the youma ranks where they detonated spectacularly in sequence. Fireballs reduced the newly arrived reinforcements to ash even as more of the demons continued heedlessly through the kill zone of plasma and fire.

Three more youma charged through the inferno and Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, cracked a cocky grin. _As good a place to start as any…_

The first demon ran in and the red head slid around to its left flank, avoiding the initial cleave of its talons completely while pushing an open palmed strike into its exposed ribcage. Bone snapped under the blow and the thing howled in pain. It whirled around to retaliate, but its tormentor-slash-meal was already gone, engaging the next youma in line. Its claws flashed out as well, but she was inside the attack, stopping the downward stroke and forcing its elbow joint out of the socket with a strategically placed strike.

The second howl of agony was immediately followed by a third, then a fourth as the girl continued to selectively engage newcomers to the fray, only to retreat and meet another. While by no means lethal, it insured that she had the demons undivided attention, and the number chasing her began grow. She was food and their food had hurt them. Said food would now be made to suffer, according to the demonic foot soldier's limited intellect. The antagonizing strikes continued and their fury grew, causing Ranma to grin nastily. She had a nice sized mob chasing her now, leaking all sorts of killing intent beyond simple, ravenous hunger.

_Crack._ Broken Jaw.

_Snap_. Collapsed sternum.

_Slash._ Her shoulder, medium depth.

_Rake_. Claws crossing her back.

Each hit was satisfying on its own merits, but nothing compared to the satisfaction of what she would do in another two revolutions; so she continued to weave the pattern ingrained into her by a three hundred year old mummy in spite of the pain. There was only so much dodging one could do in the middle of a demonic mob beginning to number in the hundreds, but she continued anyway, deep in the Soul of Ice.

Forty meters away, the captain of the squad was wondering just how a girl with no weapon, no armor and no affinity for magic had stayed alive as long as she had in the middle of the demonic throng, and damned if he and his men weren't doing their best to help her. He picked through the crowd and continued to eliminate targets in her path with his own lance fire while his team did the same, attempting to thin out the hordes around her. It wasn't enough and instead of even trying to extricate herself from the mass, she turned deeper into it, tagging youma along the way.

_But not killing them_, part of his brain noted as he dispatched another six youma with a prolonged burst of fire. It was almost as if she was trying to work them—

"Chargers in the red, Sir!" The advisement crackled through his earpiece, causing him to check his own weapon. Sure enough, the charge display was hovering just above the imminent depletion line. _Dammit_, he fumed mentally, breaking down the tactical situation. The girl was doing a damn fine job at occupying the youma, but once they got her, it'd be his unit on the menu. Could they slip away? Had they held this position long enough for the survivors to…

Avril stood up behind him carefully, breaking his train of thought. "Dame Healer, get down or—" He noticed the woman wasn't listening, her head bowed and robes fluttering with power. Her lips began to move and his recognition was instantaneous.

_Healing prayer._

_A few more meters_, Ranma growled as an anonymous talon got lucky, slicing into her leg. _Deep,_ she realized as warm life began to trickle down her calf. The stagger cost her precious mobility and another spiked claw sliced open her arm. _Dammit!_ _Can still make it, can still…_ Power flowed through her body like a warm blanket; foreign power that sought her out every wound she had incurred and fused them shut with a hiss of steam. It was a miracle that she desperately wanted to take time to analyze, but she had more pressing matters to contend with.

Evade.  
Dodge.  
Deflect.  
Counter.

The damage continued to heal itself as she pressed through the last of the youma between her and the goal. She readied for the final two demons in front of her when both were cut down by an errant line of plasma from the right, and she took their place in the center of the massive spiral she had traced. The horde flowed in behind her and she smiled, bracing herself.

"_Hiryu Shoten Ha!"_

Cold Ki flowed from her uppercut and into the heavens, catalyzing against the spiral of hot air all around her. The air gusted gently for a moment before the technique's harsh physics took over, snapping into place in the form of a violent gale that consumed the redhead. With a total of five martial arts combatants in tow, Ranma had been able to produce a tornado lasting exactly thirty five seconds and neutralizing every one of his opponents. This one was powered by the killing intent of no less than one hundred and sixty three magically spawned youma, and the resulting tempest didn't simply maim; it tore their ranks apart like they were rage dolls.

Ranma held the stance just long enough to nudge the tornado back down their path of advance before thrusting the point of her finger back down into the very earth she stood upon.

"_Bakusai Tenketsu!"_

The ground shattered beneath her feet as the point of her finger cracked a minor ley line in the former foundation of the hollowed out warehouse, causing fragments of permacrete to float around her for moment before being greedily snatched up by the tornado itself. Her fingers dug into the newly formed crater, followed by her other hand as she pressed herself into the meager cover and held on for dear life. The vortex continued to chew up foundation and earth as the trailing edge washed over the martial artist and into the back ranks of youma, who were still attempting to reform their charge. The force of nature simply devoured the pathetic creatures and continued on along a drunken line back along their path of advance, impaling the survivors with stone fragments that had been accelerated in excess of four hundred kilometers per hour.

Forty meters away, the captain simply stared as the beast howled with righteous indignation at being summoned, then set loose to consume as many of the youma as possible. The winds died off to a stiff gust as the tornado wandered away to do its master's bidding, and he noted that he wasn't alone in his incredulity. The remaining soldiers of his small unit had also gathered around to watch the force of nature work, then to the crater of its birth where no redhead stood.

Avril took a hesitant step toward the pit that had spawned the elemental, unsure of what exactly had just happened or if the danger had even fully passed. Even the captain held his nearly depleted lance ready, just in case the gate to whatever plane the girl had summoned that thing from was still open, but instead found and empty—

Rubble shifted and a red crop of hair popped out from the debris, looking around, then up at the troops gathered around her. She shook her head, dislodging another couple of stones from her person and one of the soldiers offered her a hand up out of the self made crater. She accepted it gratefully and admired the destruction wrought around her as she stepped out to ground level.

"Child, what exactly was…?" Avril's word's trailed off, lacking the proper words to describe what she had just witnessed.

"Three thousand years of Chinese Amazon history," She smirked, sighting the tornado winding along the ruined skyline.

"I… it's…" The Healer fumbled, staring down at the mischievous looking teen, then collected her thoughts with a deep breath. "How Endria missed your potential completely baffles me."

"Maybe it's because—"

"Later," The officer cut in decisively, eyeing the martial artist warily. "How long that thing last?"

Ranma studied the distant tornado, analyzing the elements that had gone into its composition. "Those things were pumping out a lot of hate and there were damn near a hundred or so… long as it keeps findin' angry youma to chew on, I don't think it's gonna stop."

Her theory gave rise to awed mumbling through their meager ranks and even the officer himself couldn't help but to be impressed. "Then it's going to be out there for a _long_ time."

"Gotta go, Captain." The armor's deep baritone reported as he raised his visor. "Command is reported breakthroughs all along the front and the queen's authorized nukes to slow their advance."

"Son of a…" He cursed as the implications sank into him in full. The Queen herself was giving the green light to glass her own world. If that didn't say things had turned to absolute carbon, _nothing_ did. By the looks of the faces on his men, they knew it as well. "Drop your ordinance, people. Anything that will slow us down. We're hauling ass back to One Senate before her highness mistakes Anako's ugly mug for a youma and drops a nuke on our asses."

Ranma took a final look at the tornado she had spawned before following the soldiers who had already taken to their retreat, Avril in tow with the trooper in power armor.

_Yeah,_ she decided, looking at the ruined sky and mangled city beyond. It was _way_ past time to go.

* * *

"**S**tatus report." Setsuna Meiou- nearly fifteen thousand years uptime -queried as the gates continued to disgorge red holographic script, highlighting entire tracts of the timeline in large red boxes.

The Child AI avatar of Queen Serenity glanced up at the status indicators floating above then back to the Guardian of Pluto herself as she gathered the relevant data. "Temporal shielding holding, no after shocks detected. Final wave length: four hundred and twenty two chronoms."

The guardian paced, her eyes studying the wounded representation of the timeline intently. "What sort of damage are we looking at?"

"Minimal," the AI reported, enhancing her magnification of the timeline before her administrator. "Ninety three percent of my temporal waypoints are still intact; four percent are confirmed lost and another three percent are still unaccounted for."

_No major damage_, Setsuna interpreted the breakdown, studying the display hanging in open air before her. _I knew this was a bad idea! Knew it! What the hell was I thinking?!_ The good news was that history had only taken a minor hit… With ninety three percent timeline integrity, overarching events had been more or less preserved… It was the details that she had to worry about. Hitler, for example, could have been born a she instead of a he. The industrial revolution could have been delayed five years. …_Or mankind evolved out of the post Silver Millennium dark ages with a third eye on their forehead_, she thought to herself cynically.

"Status on Saotome," She snapped, returning her attention back to the here and now.

"Attempting to resolve," The silver haired girl replied as blue lines of data scrolled across her iris. "Complete temporal buffer failure detected, cause indeterminate. Logs indicate Saotome was shunted to into local reality circa 8305 SM upon failure."

"Which would explain the damn time wave," Setsuna mumbled to herself. "And that he lived long enough to change something…" She shook her head, unable to believe her future self had sandbagged her so badly. "Can you get a lock?"

"Affirmative. Interference has dropped to acceptable levels," The gate avatar nodded. "Resolving Saotome, Ranma at time coordinates 2301aa00105x by 320018xa50e, Silver Millennium, circa 8305."

Setsuna's eyes narrowed as the timeline floating before her locked on to the specified area with a small green box amid the much larger pulsing red boxes overlapping one another.

"Bring. Him. Back." She ground out in no uncertain terms. "_Now_."

* * *

"**P**lease move through the gate in an orderly fashion," A pleasant, androgynous voice completely at odds with the dire situation echoed across the evacuation site as Ranma Saotome watched a thick line of people shuffle past. They were moving toward the aforementioned gate, a gigantic ring that sat upright, pulsing with crystal blue power that fill the entire volume of its inner circumference. It was also the centerpiece of what looked to be a giant coliseum, the high domed structure that now served as the last remnant of humanity on the Moon. "Group Fifty Three B, stand by for transit… Proceed."

The mixed group of refugees and soldiers stepped through the liquid mass of energy, causing it to ripple before enveloping each person one by one as they stepped through, disappearing from sight. The artifact with its notched supports evenly distributed along the circumference reminded Ranma of another such gate. While this one didn't look like a giant pair of double doors, it certainly pulsed with the same identical power. She glared at this one all the same, as if were a living entity. _Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…_ She didn't know where they were being spirited away to, but damned if she was going along for the ride _again_.

"Number Sixty One B," Avril stepped out of the crowed from behind Ranma, distracting the martial artist from her grousing.

"What?"

"I've registered us for evacuation," The Healer handed the confused redhead a maroon ticket stamped "61B" in thick, black lettering. "We have an estimated twenty minute minute—"

A flash lit up the sky temporarily and the din of noise and confusion went silent as everybody in the immediate vicinity turned to watch a new, angry mushroom cloud claw its way into the already muddy red sky. Another flash and the phenomenon soon had company.

"Our Queen's forces," A hoarse voice belonging to a soldier called out in an effort to preempt speculation and panic. "Please continue moving to the gate!"

"Please move through the gate in an orderly fashion," the computerized voice intoned with a vaguely feminine inflection, as if to drive the soldier's point home. "Group Fifty Four A stand by for transit…"

"Where the hell is that thing takin' people anyway?" Ranma eyed the glowing ring skeptically as it swallowed another group of twenty one at a time.

"Nobody knows for certain," Avril shook her head, watching the people disappear as well before looking down upon her charge. "Word has it with power pretty much out all over the city, the Queen herself is fueling the gate with her own reserves."

"The Queen?" Ranma wondered, suddenly connecting several mental dots. "She'd know where Meiou-san is, wouldn't she?"

"No, wait! Not necessarily," Avril's eyes widened as she realized her error, watching the girl turn on a heel and stalk the crowd. "Child you can't _do_ this!"

The woman's protests were largely ignored as Ranma ducked through the growing crowd of refugees to home in on the largest source of power in the area. Anybody who could power that ring back there would stand out like a sore thumb, according to the martial artists logic and she homed in upon the biggest source she could find, leading out of the crowd and directly into a ring of armed soldiers in full plate; Beyond them, a regal woman in white with silver hair, blue eyes and absolutely glowing with power. The martial artist tried to gain a better view around the monolithic armor, realizing that while the woman's eyes were open, they weren't actually seeing. _Meditative trance? Probably need it to focus enough power to shoot people half way around the solar system or somethin'…_

Seconds later, Avril caught up to her charge with a slight pant. "Child, this is an ill advised course of action… Do _not_ distract the woman attempting to save our very lives."

Something in the woman's tone called off Ranma's impetuous nature, and she disregarded her initial plan to hop over the guards and meet the woman directly. The very _last _thing she needed was to soil her honor by screwing up everybody's way out of this hell hole.

"Alright, alright," Ranma backed off, backing out of the guard's personal space. If they had even noticed her, they didn't show it and remained completely immobile walls of crystal and steel. "But that thing back there ain't my way home and damned if me and Meiou-san aren't gonna have words before—"

"And what, exactly would you tell Guardian Pluto, hmmm?"

"I'd tell her just how badly she—" Ranma's mouth fired off automatically as she turned to the new speaker, then received the sensory input in full. Red Eyes, green hair, black and white fuku. The soft contralto of her speech. Ranma blinked. "_YOU!"_

"Me?" The woman blinked back, completely caught off guard by the accusation and its complete lack of detail.

"This is all your fault!" the redhead accused, leaving the guardian to wonder just what she had done to earn the girl's ire. "You're the reason I'm here to _mmmMMMF_!"

Avril's hand slapped over the Saotome's mouth, pulling her back with no small amount of trouble as the girl attempted to free herself. The Healer affected a slight bow; as much she could afford with the struggling girl in hand.

"I do apologize, Guardian Pluto," Avril began hastily, desperately attempting to keep Ranma silent. "She has an odd fixation with you and so sorry to have—"

"This crazy woman punted me into this future!" Ranma gained sufficient leverage and pried the hand from her mouth. "And you and me are gonna have a little talk about it!"

The Senshi of Pluto's eyes widened suddenly, then narrowed on the redhead. "And what do you know the future, child?"

"I know you'd better open back up those damn time gates of yours and send me back," Ranma leaned forward with the challenge, completely free of Avril's grip now.

Something in her words hit home, and the Senshi inhaled sharply. She stared at the fierce redhead for a moment before coming to a decision. "You. Come with me. Both of you."

"Guardian please do not judge this impetuous youth too harshly," Avril trailed behind the two, Pluto taking the lead and Ranma walking confidently behind as the ring of guards parted to allow them admittance to the Queen's inner sanctum. "I'm sure we can—"

"The Time Gates are a closely guarded secret of the crown, child," The guardian began as they closed on the entranced queen. "Doubly so in these dark times."

"Of course they are, Guardian," The black haired healer nodded hastily. "We shall—" Avril stalled, cocking her head. "You mean the young Saotome is actually…?"

"…Either temporally displaced as she claims or an enemy agent," The red eyed Guardian remarked as they continued. Ranma smirked regardless. "In either case we shall deal with her shortly, then determine _your_ complicity in the matter."

Avril suddenly grew very silent as she realized just how deep her association with the girl had drawn her.

The trio walked past a number of uniformed officials and advisors, all of which gave the Guardian of Pluto a deferential bow as she continued on to the Queen and another fuku-clad blonde next to her. Their conversation paused for a moment, and recognition lit up in the blonde's eyes.

"You still here, Red?"

Pluto arched an eyebrow, looking from the redhead to her counterpart, the Guardian of Venus. "You _know _her?"

"Yeah, Guardian Mercury and I found her in the city core taking on her very own division of Youma." Her smile diminished slightly with the mention of her friend's name. "That is before Ami…"

Ranma would have been more than happy to take credit and the recognition if not for the heavy emphasis on her comrade's name and the somber tone. Venus took a deep breath, clearing a blonde bang from her face. "Anyway, I'm betting that was your summon down on the front line?"

"Summon?" Ranma cocked her head, clearly not comprehending her reference.

"The wind elemental, child." Avril placed her hand on Ranma's shoulder, clarifying the guardian's words.

"_Wind _elemental?" Pluto stared at the teen, intently scrutinizing the girl a full head shorter than herself. There was no magical potential in her to speak of, so...

"Thought so," Venus quipped, nodding. "Hard to miss that much life force being thrown around. Sent the bitches into all sorts of disarray."

"And bought us these precious minutes," The silver haired queen turned her attention upon her for the first time, smiling gently. Still, it was clear to Ranma that the woman was still heavily focused on her near trans-like state. "Were their time to properly commend you, I would but there are more pressing matters at hand…"

"She knows about the time gates, Your Highness," Pluto interjected, but in a considerably less confrontational tone, recognizing the fact that this stranger before her had built up at least some good will amongst her peers.

"Indeed," The entranced woman returned with the slightest edge of surprise in her otherwise lulling tone. "Perhaps explanations are in order, then?"

"Should be asking Pluto here," Ranma jabbed a thumb back at the green haired Senshi with a look of annoyance. "She's the one who sent me into this busted future."

"Future? Me?" Setsuna blinked, then frowned deeply. "Highly unlikely."

"Yeah, and me standin' here says otherwise," The martial artist retorted. "Hell, you should remember it unless you went all senile."

"Senile?" Her red eyes squinted on the martial artists, promising retaliation for the trespass. "Of all the people I would send into the future, _you_ would not be one of them."

"And I really don't give a damn," Ranma folded her arms across her chest imperviously. "You sent me here, so fix it already."

"Ehh," Avril interjected tentatively. "Forgive the young Starlight, Your Majesty, Guardian Pluto. She is quite impetuous."

"Starlight?" Venus arched an eyebrow, studying Ranma intently as well.

"A Starlight now…" Queen Serenity tilted her head with interest, but continued none the less. "Be that as it may, perhaps the details of your… _displacement _are in order since only a select few even know of the Gate's existence, let alone their location."

"Between Pluto and that other planet, right," Ranma shook her head, failing to notice Guardian Pluto's eyes bug out with the easy admission of the Time Gate's ultra secret location. "Look, Sets-chan didn't give me the details, but if I had to guess, I'm at least fifty years in the future because we sure as hell didn't have flying cars on the moon last I checked."

Pluto's eye twitched with the nickname but she finally had the girl. "Impossible."

"You keep sayin' that, but here I am." Ranma rolled her eyes. "I know about your gates and I know where they are. Give it up alr—"

"Impossible," Pluto cut in sternly, "Because the gates have only been operational for _two years _now. There's no way I could have sent you _anywhere_ fifty years ago because there was nothing to send you forward _with_."

"But that's…" Ranma opened her mouth, then let it snap shut as her brain tried to recall the pertinent information given to her by the Setsuna she knew. _She had said the past, but the cars and moon…_ "That can't be… She sent me…?"

"Sent you where, child?"

"She said the past," Ranma wallowed in confusion; staring at the silver haired queen, then back up at Setsuna. "I thought with all the weird technology… but… that just doesn't make sense!"

"From my standpoint, it would," Pluto considered the girl thoughtfully. It certainly didn't look like she lying and her emotions read like an open book anyway. "What better way to avert catastrophe then to send a messenger back with a warning?"

"Could have used that a few hours ago," Venus frowned, unsure of what to make of the situation at this point. She knew she was smart, but temporal mechanics made her brain hurt.

"But that's the point!" Ranma balked, frustration writ large on her face. "You didn't tell me anything! You just dropped my ass into this place without a damn clue!"

"Again, highly unlikely," The green haired guardian shook her head, completely sure of herself now. "There would be little point sending anyone back to avert a catastrophe of this magnitude without the information necessary to avert it."

"You just ain't getting it!" Ranma's frustration rose to new heights. After spending the entire day and a half fighting off youma and watching people getting killed, she figured she had the right. "You didn't tell me anything! Nothing! All you said was…" As quickly as her anger had flared it was suddenly extinguished as _her_ Setsuna's last words were suddenly recalled. "Oh shit… you said…"

"Said what, child?"

Ranma had paled noticeably. She wasn't sure of the exact portent of those words, but she was damn sure they _couldn't _have been good in any way shape or form. "You said 'look but not touch…'"

Hers wasn't the only feeling of trepidation. Even as the redhead had uttered the words, Setsuna was analyzing them and their potential implication. There was too much information now to doubt the stranger was telling the truth and if her future self had issued such a commandment, then the only logical conclusion to be derived from that statement was that events were to play out however they were to play out.

"Guardian Venus," She turned to her counterpart, gaining the blonde's attention, "If I could have a word alone with her Highness?"

Venus caught the unmistakable flicker of the guardian's eyes over to the redhead and healer, comprehending her intent instantly. "If you could follow me over here for one moment please…"

Pluto waited until the trio was safely out of earshot in spite of Ranma's protests before turning back to the Queen. She was already looking upon her with a knowing countenance.

"What must be done, Setsuna-chan?"

_Leave it to her Serenity-chan to drive straight to the heart of the matter…_ "Unfortunately, nothing for now. For whatever reason, my future self has given her a hands-off commandment, implying no changes should be made to the events unfolding in the here and now."

"Hmmm…" Queen Serenity's expression turned thoughtful. "Be that as it may, I find it difficult to turn away any support in our hour of greatest need. She is obviously quite skilled, and any favor we can curry with the Novis Lumina…"

"Something I sympathized with greatly, your Highness," Pluto agreed, following her gaze to the redhead. "Though her presence tells us one thing; The future is intact and the Silver Millennium has survived in some capacity."

"And there is still the fact that you sent her back without a message of any sort, though her very presence has made this evacuation possible," Queen Serenity gazed upon her guardian for a moment, then the redhead talking in a somewhat more conversational form than before with Venus. "The logic is disconcerting at best."

"My thoughts exactly," Pluto nodded, having already perceived the discontinuity in the girl's very presence. Exactly why would her future self send somebody back but give them a hands-off commandment? "It is very possible she has already served her purpose simply by being here…"

"Explain."

"We already know that one must be very careful with causality as to not initiate a catastrophic series of events," The guardian explained, watching Venus occupy Healer and martial artist alike. "The manipulation of the timeline must be certain and precise if a given outcome is to be achieved. Give an agent too much information and they could very well overcorrect or stray from the original intent…"

"So you're theorizing that we purposely provided her with a lack of information to simply achieve this outcome?" The queen frowned, torn between the results they had apparently achieved and the manipulation required doing so.

"It is my best guess at this point," The Guardian nodded. "I've seen the combat logs. Without that girl's elemental attack, the entire front would have crumbled inside minutes once Beryl's forces took full advantage of the breech. I'm not fond of that level of coincidence, your Highness."

"Nor am I," The woman before her agreed. "Your recommendation, then?"

"Isolate her," Setsuna advised firmly. "She has obviously played out her role and will be recalled in the near future. If not, we shall send her back ourselves once this threat has passed."

"With her own future irrevocably changed," The Queen's own unease manifesting in the conclusion. "It does not please me to manipulate our own with such duplicity, but I see no choice at present." She paused, a moment, reviewing the action she was about to take, then nodded. "So be it. Place a guard on the Child; one of my own. Advise her that she is to take no further action in this timeframe, though by my word the Starlight is to be afforded our respect until her return. I will not allow our gratitude for her deeds to be found lacking."

"Understood, Your highness," Pluto returned with a respectful bow, turning on a heel and motioning a guard in ordinate full crystal plate to follow her back to the redhead. The guard looming large behind her didn't go unnoticed either.

"Well?"

"The crown would like to extend our fullest gratitude for your assistance," Setsuna began, ignoring the irritating redhead's demeanor. "Once hostilities have past we will be more than happy to help you return to your original timeframe."

Ranma's eyes widened, but then narrowed back on the woman. After all, there was a guard in escort for a reason; this one in all kinds of fancy armor. "I hear a 'but' coming."

"Unfortunately, you represent an unknown quantity in this timeframe," The Guardian nodded. "We must ask you to abstain from further activities until we can arrange your transport."

Ranma opened her mouth, closed it, then open it again, having found the right words to express her irritation. "You gotta be shitting me."

The aggravation conveyed in the crude remark left Setsuna speechless for a moment, yet she held her tongue per the Queen's instructions. "Be that as it may, the Queen has dispatched one of her own to ensure your safety and compliance."

"You can't seriously expect me to just sit here," Ranma held the women with a lidded glare. "You know what happened the last time I was told that?

"I do," Guardian Venus mumbled, causing Pluto to arch an eyebrow.

"Indeed." She returned blandly, but let the comment pass. "In any case, Guardian Venus and I are required elsewhere. Please remain here until instructed otherwise. Good day."

The Green haired Senshi turned and walked off, leaving Ranma, Avril and Venus. The blonde shrugged in turn, following her cohort back to duty. Ranma scowled.

"Well this sucks," She remarked, watching the pair leave for a moment. They disappeared into the crowd and the martial artist sighed, then turned to her massive escort. "Don't suppose ya got any hot water?" Silence met her query. "That's kinda what I thought."

"So…" Avril began tentatively, studying the girl she had come to know over the last day through life and death. "You truly are not from… here?"

"Hmmf," Ranma snorted in a most unlady like way. "Not even close. Guess it would have been hard to swallow if somebody told me that too."

"Quite," The Healer shook her head, still straddling the line between belief and disbelief. "Though I find it difficult to believe that you would have been sent here without a clear directive of some sort…"

"Tell me about it," The redhead huffed, finding a nearby bench. She looked back up at the ever present monolithic suit of crystal armor standing by with a roll of the eyes. "I don't care which Pluto does it, but I'd better be getting' answers soon."

"Which Pluto…" The slightest smile cracked Avril's serious demeanor. "Such novelty in that statement."

"I try not to think about it too much," Ranma grimaced, pulling out the silver rectangle she had inherited before the evacuation, eyeing it hungrily. Technically speaking, this Pluto wasn't the one her beef was with… but she was still _a_ Pluto and that had to count for something.

"If we should survive this insanity, I insist you tell me…" A group of advisors suddenly rushed past and over to the queen, joined by the green haired Senshi in short order. "_That_ bodes not well."

"Tell me about it," Ranma nodded, hoping back up with the intent to eavesdrop. She paused, looking back up at her armored escort. "You can come too, Shorty."

Five steps from her escort, Ranma froze. The ground was vibrating. It wasn't the sudden shock of a bomb, but a consistent vibration that was steadily increasing in intensity. She didn't know what it was, but with the flurry of advisors before the woman known as Queen Serenity, there was only one conclusion to come to.

"Aw, shit."

As if the words themselves were magic, the sound of stone being ripped from the earth suddenly filled the air as massive ten meter wide pits opened up below survivors and soldiers alike. Five of the pits appeared instantaneously and those above them disappeared into the black momentarily, only to reappear in the jaws of what the martial artist could only term as 'snakes'. Their heads shot up from the pits on elongated serpentine bodies, gnashing at the victims that had literally fallen into their maw. The soldiers in plate had come to the same conclusion that Ranma had- Anybody in the mass of fangs were already dead and commenced to firing. Immolating plasma rained in from all sides and Ranma watched as the snake things died by fire. Their scales ablated some of the rounds, but the torrent would not be denied and the writhing beasts collapsed to the earth one by one.

And that's when the second set of pits opened up.

This time the target was specifically the soldiers, and the serpents rose from the ground amid panicked plasma fire. Even those in full plate weren't spares as teeth closed around them and cracked the armor like brittle nut. The Queen's own armor was actively engaging the invaders now, torching them with heavy lances and missile fire. The more intelligent snake took their bites and dove back into the ground before they took too much damage, while the slower ones died as they had in the first wave. The last visible snake collapsed in a smoldering heap only to signal a third wave. This one wasn't composed of snakes, however and youma exploded from the gaps; flooding out of the hole like a tide of angry ants.

Sailor Venus was had already deployed her crystal claymore, hacking down youma with inhuman grace as a Dead Scream tore away from Pluto, creating a buffer zone between the Queen and the youma offensive. The Queens own guard regrouped, laying down thick suppressive fire for the pair. Setsuna's eyes flicked to a cut off group of the soldiers desperately trying to fight off their own attackers and she flexed her power.

"Garnet Shield!" Plasma and claws slammed home against the newly erected energy barrier, shielding the soldiers from the brunt of the attack. Then her eyes widened. "_No…_"

Earth crumbled once again and two of the massive serpents breached the surface once more. Venus rolled away and brought the massive claymore around, cleaving one of the creatures even as it sought her out. Setsuna Meiou, Guardian of Pluto wasn't nearly as fortunate. She had been caught flat footed with the bulk of her power already extended to safeguard that wayward platoon when the snake found her. Jaws opened, but instead of plunging down into her, sword tipped tongues shot out from its massive jaws at lightning speeds. The guardian dug into compressed time and the sword tongues slowed, but the effort was too little, too late.

Her initial dodge left evaded half of the fifteen tongues seeking to impale her and the Chrono Staff deflected another three in a shower of sparks. Four met flesh, skewering the green haired woman in the shoulder, chest, abdomen and leg simultaneously. Excruciating pain lanced through the woman… until the remaining eleven blade-tongues corrected their initial lunge and perforated nearly every vital organ of her body.

"_SETSUNA!"_

Something chopped the tongues free of their host and the Guardian of Time fell backward, blood spraying from her mouth. She retained just enough awareness to look down at the instruments of her demise… fifteen organic metal blades grafted to a multi tongue organ, indecipherable runes running up and down each molecular sharp edge.

"But…" She coughed up blood and still more seeped from the penetration wounds. Her blurred vision caught the stunned redhead easily enough from fifteen meters away. "Can't die… sent her… back?" A blonde mane swooped across her vision and Pluto fell over..

_Fury. Impotence. Revenge._ The Queen knew all these emotions as the woman she had named Guardian of Time fell over in a pool of her own blood, yet she was unable to do anything. Like Setsuna beyond, her own power was over extended. She was not only keeping the portal to salvation open, but preventing their nemesis from simply wiping them off the face of their own world with an ill placed nuclear device. She couldn't even retaliate until either the gate or the need to keep the shield up passed.

Even beyond that, the still logical portion of her brain knew they had miscalculated. _Seriously_ miscalculated. Setsuna-chan was suppose to have sent the girl for her mission in the future, but to do that, she couldn't die on the field of battle like she was right this very moment! Events had taken a wicked turn and she needed to put them back on track. _But how?_ The remainder of her troops were fully engaged. She had a single guardian left in play. She—The queens blue eye snapped back to the red headed girl at the center of it all. _Her._ She was the fulcrum.

"Child!" She yelled, attempting to break the girl's trance. "_Starlight!_" she barely smiled as the girl's eyes snapped away from Pluto and onto her person. _That_ got her attention.

* * *

"_**S**__tarlight!"_ The name Ranma had inadvertently come to associate with her own person effectively penetrated the shock of watching her ticket home impaled by the snake thing's tongues, tearing her attention from the dying Pluto and on to the Queen herself. "_I hereby name you a Guardian of the Realm! Eliminate this threat by any means necessary!" _

It took a moment for her words to set in and even after she had analyzed them, she still didn't know the significance behind being 'a Guardian of the Realm'. Ranma did, however, know full well what the latter part of her statement meant and loosed a cold, malicious smile.

"Now that's what I'm talkin' about," Ranma cracked her knuckles and began to advance toward the embattled Sailor Venus, the fallen Pluto at her feet. "Let's go Avril-chan." She glanced back at her personal escort. "You too, Tin-man. If it moves, kill it."

"Affirmative, Guardian." The armored helmet nodded with a low, electronic baritone. Ranma didn't even notice the title as the armored warrior's weapons unfolded from their protective sheaths, readying for action. The martial artist nodded and ignited her own battle aura, signaling the renewal of hostilities.

Sailor Venus had just finished impaling her twenty second consecutive youma when a blue two meter wide ball of plasma flashed by her and slammed into another three encroaching on her flank, turning their ground zero into violent storm of fused stone and violent pressures. The Blonde quickly kicked her victim off the blade and reversed its vector to flow beneath her left shoulder and into the jaws of another demon attempting to engage her from behind. Resistance was next to nonexistent and she twirled around with a flick, cleaving away half the beast's skull effortlessly.

Another blue flash annihilated the next group she had chosen for targets and golden plasma streamed around her, hosing down every youma in melee attack range and forcing the rest to withdraw from her immediate area or become cinders. Even as she was gratefully marveling at the breathing room, a diminutive redhead in ragged dress clothing dropped in next to her.

"How's it going, Blondie?" She smirked, scanning for her own targets while her own armored escort continued to lay down suppressive fire.

"Pretty shitty, Red," The Senshi of Venus cursed, picking out her her own victims. "You?"

"Been better," Ranma replied, slicing at the air with a hand and cutting down one of the larger youma that had managed to stay ahead of the armor's rain of plasma. Avril knelt down to the impaled Senshi at the center of their newly established protective ring, examining Pluto.

"It's a miracle she's still alive. Swords come first," the Healer spoke in a commanding voice, clasping her hands together. "If you can hear me Guardian, prepare yourself. The blades are stunting your regeneration. So long as one of the spelled blades remain within you, your death is certain."

The black haired woman began muttering even as the din of battle consumed her words, culminating in the harsh order, "RELEASE!"

All of the organic blades suddenly pulled away from her chest simultaneously, floating aside before clattering to the earth. Blood continued to flow from the wounds, now at an accelerated rate. "Still not enough!" She put a hand to the woman's head and began chanting, funneling healing power into the Senshi. Both glowed golden for a moments and the wounds began to fuse, hissing with steam. "Almost have them…"

...Then they reopened

"Imp… Impossible!" Avril stared in horror as the woman writhed in renewed agony, blood burbling from her mouth in a silent scream. "Saotome-san, I need your assistance _now!_"

Ranma looked to Venus who in turn nodded. She stepped back and found Avril kneeling beside the blood soaked Pluto. "Whatcha need, Doc?"

"I need you to stabilize her life force while I attempt to unravel the curse those blades inflicted upon her wounds," The Healer stated, attempting to read the entanglement of magic around each puncture.

"And just how the hell do I do that?!" The martial artist stared at the woman wide eyed, then the Senshi on death's door. No amount of suturing or gauze was going to bring her back from that sort of trauma.

"I can only give you general theory," Avril shook head, focused almost entirely on a specific wound oozing blood. "Ki dancers are known to synchronize their auras with others and manipulate the shared life force. If you can keep her stable until I neutralize the curse…"

"Sonava…" Ranma mumbled, but fell to her knees beside the woman, closing her eyes. _Synchronize aura's my ass_, Ranma groused, but mentally committed to unknown of the task at hand. Learning new techniques she didn't mind. Learning new techniques when his or somebody else's ass was on the line positively _sucked_. The martial artist reviewed her task and the theory surrounding it, comparing it to the abilities at her disposal with freighting speed. _I have an aura, she has an aura. I can sense it just like everybody else's so no problems there…_ Barely half a second had past and Ranma had already reviewed and discarded a number of approaches to the challenged that had been posed to her, coming down to her best guess. She ramped power to her aura and wrapping it around Setsuna's. _Still ain't workin'…_ She realized, checking her progress. Even that was a tall order when one didn't know the exact result that was to be achieved. _Synchronize… Synchronize … means they gotta me the same… _Ranma reworked the theory and analyzed the Senshi's aura further as it began to dim. _Shit shit shit… Smooth mine out a bit… Eeeeasy… Okay, gotta get the intensity down… Aura's too cool to fuse… Warm it up just a hair…_

Now she could feel it—Once two aura with definitive boundaries began to blur. Triumph began to fill Ranma when Pluto's aura suddenly lost strength and began to evaporate. "No, no, no, no… Avril! Loosin' her!"

The martial artist's aura lashed out on reflex in a desperate attempt to graft itself to the Guardian's own, but the field continued to lose cohesion until all that Ranma could feel was incoherent energy fading from the Senshi. Ranma's eyes popped open just in time to watch the guardian spasm one last time before falling limp. Ranma stared for a full five seconds until Avril placed her hands of the Guardian's eyes, closing them softly.

"DAMN IT!" The Healer's eyes widened as the redhead next to her pushed a fist into the ground, creating a solid two meter indenture in it. Ranma gave the dead Senshi one last look before returning to her full height. Venus paused from her youma slaying, sparing Pluto a sad glance.

"And then there were two."

"_Three,"_ Ranma corrected with a growl, reorganizing her Ki for offensive usage. Youma continued to circle their position and she mentally began to prioritize targets. "We need a plan or we're all gonna be seeing that sooner or later."

"We need to retake the offensive," The blonde Senshi nodded. "But with the Queen tied up on the gate and civilians still on this side, we just can't go all out and dust the area."

"Attrition warfare plays to Beryl's strength here," Avril commented from her crouch, staying low as to avoid any unnecessary action. "Withdraw would be the most advisable course of action."

A lanky youma braved the power armor's fire, skittering around the streams of plasma to close the distance. Its efforts were reward by Sailor Venus deploying an energy chain-whip, bisecting it messily before it even made it to melee.

"There's nowhere to withdraw to!" She huffed and more of the demons began to draw closer.

"Crystal's running low, Guardians…" The trooper within the sloped armor advised, but continued to pump out lethal streams of plasma regardless.

"And what the hell is that?"

Venus followed Ranma's gaze to a new youma, this one distinctly female. She was nearly four meters tall with the gold crown taken into account, wore dead gray skin and spiked plate armor molded to her body. Each of her four arms held some form of sharp sword like weapon. The trooper didn't wait for positive identification, instead adhering to Ranma's original orders to the letter and splashing it with a stream of plasma. The energy attack rebounded off a thick shadowy barrier and the demon continued to advance.

"Seihan-chan says it's a Shivarra," Venus reported bringing the sword to bear on the new target while Ranma turned back to their right flank to immolate some of the lesser youma with a Moko Takabisha. "Closest analogy would be a General of youma forces."

"I hate Sub-bosses," Ranma frowned, keeping an eye on the newcomer and the squad she was directing; then gained a thoughtful look. "Almost looks like somebody I know…bigger, but…"

"Either way, we don't want her and those damn blades anywhere near us," Venus quipped, lashing the energy whip impatiently.

Ranma watched as the greater demon closed, her eyes flicking from it to the Chrono Staff Setsuna once wielded. "That thing still work?"

"Keyed to her life force, like my own blade," Venus hefted her own blade. "Unless she specifically allowed somebody to use it, it's likely to be nothing more than a fancy durium bo."

"That'll do," Ranma's hand snatched out to grab the staff, giving it a reflexive twirl. It was heavy and ill balanced with a center of gravity leaning well toward the heart-jeweled tip, but it would serve the purpose she had in mind… and make a fitting symbol in the process. "Think you can keep it occupied?"

"Why does it have to be me?!" Sailor Venus balked in an exaggerated tone, causing Ranma to chuckle.

"You're the one with the fancy sword and magical armor, remember?"

"There is that," She shrugged, twirling the claymore around through a graceful arc. The blonde turned back to Avril and the trooper in power armor. "Get her back to the gate."

"If you think I shall simply—" The Healer protested only to be cut off by the suddenly serious Guardian.

"It's only going to get uglier from here, honored Healer," Venus shook her head. "The last of the survivors are going through now, and once our Queen closes that gate, it's _closed._ We didn't have time to set up any sort of tech base there, so they'll need all the help they can get, yours especially."

"Where is 'there' anyway!?"

"Earth," Sailor Venus cracked a humorless smile at the sudden horror blooming on Avril's face. Even Ranma couldn't help but to feel concern after what she had heard happened to her own world. "A special site ninety degrees out of phase from the local reality. With Beryl scattering her forces throughout the cosmos on this crusade, the safest place to hide is directly under her nose."

"And if we can't?"

She chuckled. "Then there isn't anywhere in known space will be safe from her ambition, and dropping you in the last place she'd look would only delay the inevitable. Now go. Guardian Red and I have some clean up to do."

"Blondie's right," Ranma smirked, arraying herself next to Venus in order to cover Avril and the trooper's withdrawal to the gate. The martial artist twirled the staff through its own arc before burying the head into the earth as if to mark an invisible line the enemy would not cross. "Our job is to keep them from getting to those people back there. Yours is to keep em alive while we do it, kay?"

Avril looked as if she was about to protest but settle on a threat instead. "Then you had better come out of this alive. I'll not have that talent of yours atrophy by wallowing in the combat arts."

"As if," Ranma retorted easily, earning a solemn nod from the Healer as she and her escort turned back to rejoin the few refugees still on their side of the gate. The redhead's cocky smile slipped ever so slightly and turned back to Sailor Venus. "Alright, ready for this?"

"Oh yeah," She nodded, raising the crystal claymore up with one hand and sighting its point at the Shivarra lumbering toward them. It saw the challenge and brought its own four massive blades to the ready with a sneer, eyes aglow with unholy energy. "Now sound good?"

"Good as time as any," The redhead quipped, adopting a slouching crouch. Sailor Venus was only mildly surprised as the girl literally disappeared from sight.

"Figures," She mumbled before hefting her sword and brought it around with her charge into the Shivarra's forward ranks. Six of the lesser demons fell before they even had time to retaliate, falling to the glimmering silver arc of the Guardian's claymore and breaching the greaters' defensive line completely. Four curved scimitars fell down upon Venus.

_SHreeeeiiik!_

Sparked blistered through open air as the Senshi fended off the quadruple threat and the Shivarra took up the battle in earnest, turning into a dervish of exotic steel and power; her blades attempting to halve and quarter the blonde. Each strike met the Guardian's own blurring edge, deflecting and countering with the skill and grace born through decades of practice. Three more impacts resounded off the magical claymore and the forth came in- way off the optimal angle -Venus noted with a feral smile. She took the blow, slid left and wove her own edge around the blade, forcing the cursed scimitar from the Shivarra's grip. The single blade hit the ground, but the Guardian's victory was cut short as the other three were back to slicing the air around her.

Vibration continued to ripple down the crystalline edge as Sailor Venus parried blow after blow, attempting her own offensive through the steel onslaught when the air ten meters above the demon wavered. She nearly missed her next parry as a redhead fell away from the distortion with the late Guardian Pluto's time key already on its downward stroke. Logically, she knew staves such as the one her new partner was wielding weren't traditionally used to cut or slice anything. They were fulcrums and bludgeons, but that didn't stop the girl from falling into the Shivarra, sending the bo _through _the greater demon's left shoulder, down though it's torso can clearing the body between its legs, effectively dividing the giant pseudo female in two. Ranma hit the ground with enough force to embed the jeweled tip into the earth with enough violence that a quarter of it was buried into the ground where it stayed, rooted at a forty five degree angle. The girl continued to roll out with the impact, ultimately coming to a sliding rest next to Venus herself.

"Well shit, Red…" Sailor Venus whistled as the mangled halves quivered independently, barely maintaining some sense of balance before simply falling apart and melting at their feet.

"I'll give you ten out of—What?" Ranma watched curiously as the Senshi cocked her head, listening to something. "Whoa! We're leaving _now_!"

The blonde scooped Ranma with both hands and leapt skyward, leaving the ground at a high rate of speed even as two pink balls raced by them in the opposite direction, streaking into the surface and into the youma that had surrounded them only moments ago. Both impacted less than a second later, detonating in a suitably spectacular flash and pyre of pyroclastic material.

"What the hell was that?!" Ranma yelped, staring at the dispersing cloud of pink energy and the youma running for their lives or rallying upon other greater demons. The rumble of wind caught her attention and her head snapped up, just in time to watch a boxy flying ship descend out of the clouds at high speed with six power armors flying escort.

"_That_ was the Princess!" Venus pointed out to a lone figure hovering near their altitude. She had similarly blond hair, but the facial features were softer than the woman holding her now. Likewise, she wore a blue fuku instead of Sailor Venus' own orange. The boxy vessel dumped altitude as energy fire from various greater youma began to track it, prompting more pink blasts from the other blonde. "Cargo ship is coming in a bit hot…"

Venus winced as the ship fell, activating its emergency thrusters at the last second and slowing down for a bone jarring landing; as opposed to the outright crash it had been slated for. Either way, she was sure the impact was hard enough to ensure an extended maintenance and repair cycle before it flew again. The armors were down around it instantly sweeping there area with plasma fire against any opportunistic youma the instant they landed.

"That's the last of them," The new blonde commented, floating up next to them and eyeing Ranma critically. "A survivor?"

Ranma was about to scowl when Venus answered for her. "Of sorts. Meet guardian Saotome; resident Starlight and Ki dancer. Red, Princess Moon Serenity."

"Guardian?" Sailor moon blinked, not even bothering with the other titles Ranma had already acquired.

"Named so by your mother herself," Venus answered the skeptical tone with a decisive nod as they descended into the free fire zone around the ship.

"Yeah, still workin' on the flying part." Ranma quipped with a smirk, hopping out of Venus' arms at a height of thirty meters. The horrified look on Moon's face lasted only as long as it took her to realize the girl had landed in a safe crouch. Survivors began to pour out of the transport behind her and hastily lined up at the gate, pushing through the event horizon as fast as they could manage.

"The Prince?" Venus queried as they touched down beside Ranma, surveying the evacuation of the battered craft. It had obviously taken its share of fire if the scorch marks were any judge; even a few bouts with those dragon things by the looks of the claw marks gouged in the hull.

"Insisted on piloting it himself," She shook her head. "Southern command is gone. Sinus Iridum was literally wiped off the map by a massive spell strike… Nothing but a crater by the time we got there." She nodded at the transport. "The people in this boat are the sole survivors. The other five transports…"

The jibe about her fiancé Endymion bad piloting died on the tip of her tongue with the new news. Sinus Iridum, a city of no less than six million people… And all that was left of it was a transport that couldn't hold more than one hundred people. The snarling look on her face communicated her realization quite clearly.

"When we get a hold of that red headed witch, I swear there will be no death—" Venus stopped, noting that Ranma had backed away exactly one step. "Eh, not you Red. The former Queen Beryl, ruler of Earth and architect of this madness."

Princess Moon looked from one of her closest friends to the newly minted Guardian and back. "That needed explanation?"

"Guardian Red is… On loan to us," Venus explained carefully, not exactly sure where any of them stood in terms of causality at the moment. "She's not up to speed on current events."

"She means there's a bunch of time travel bullshit involved," Ranma huffed, not caring any longer where they stood in terms of causality. She was lost, the Moon was getting nuked, demons had run amok and the woman that was supposed to send her back to the future was dead. It wasn't as if it could get much worse, in her opinion.

"That's one way to put it." Sailor Venus shrugged.

"Then Guardian Pluto…?"

"We're not sure at the moment," Minako frowned. "We're the only three left, and Red is certain that it was Pluto sent her back…"

"Which implies Pluto is still alive, but…" Moon trailed off into though, getting a clear picture of the discontinuity of events. She shook her head clear of the paradox Pluto's actions and subsequent demise represented. "An enigma for another day," She decided, turning back to the fire line her own elite power armor had been holding. "Fall back to the gate! Use the transport as cover and protect the civilians!"

Ranma Saotome took the advice to heart, unleashing her own frustrations by launching a pair of Moko Takabishas down range for heavy fire support, having a similar, if comparatively smaller effect to Sailor Moon's own pink energy blasts. Sailor Venus took the close in work, cutting down anything that made it into range with either a special technique from her own crystal blade or a golden coil from the segmented energy whip.

The three combatants fell back into a protective shell around the survivors and a uniformed man with armored pauldrons mounting his shoulders directing them through the gates. _Lotta metals on his chest_, Ranma noted out of the corner of her eye as she eviscerated another rank of youma with vacuum blades. The man brought in another officer to take his place and sprinted the short distance past the queen's own guard and to the silver haired woman. After a short exchange, the man was back with the Queen's own guard in tow. Princess Moon stepped back from her offensive, looking upon him with concern.

"Where are you…?"

The young, sandy haired general took the Princesses hand gently, kissing it. "I saw Beryl while flying in, no less than five kilometers west of our position. The Queen agrees that we need to act decisively."

"Then we—" She started, only to be cut off softly.

"Not we, Princess," The General continued. "You and Guardian Venus are to remain with the survivors until they are safely through the gate, per your mother's instructions. Her personal guard and I will spearhead the assault on the black queen herself. Once your charges are safely out of danger, your group shall reinforce our advance."

"Who's he?" Ranma asked, cutting loose a couple more vacuum blade and closing ranks with Venus.

"Prince Endymion, Moon's fiancé and crown prince of Earth," She replied, lashing another four youma down with the golden length of whip. Her lips took on a mischievous smile as she wound up for her next attack. "Why? Jealous?"

The counter took Ranma by surprise for a moment given the gender in question, but a witty retort born of reflex was already rolling off her tongue. "Feh, hardly. Got more than enough action in that department."

"I don't doubt that one bit, Starlight," Venus flashed her a knowing smile. Ranma had more than enough experience with innuendo to know it was buried in the girl's words somewhere, but lacked the social context to accurately identify it until her next her next ones. "Once we're done kicking ass and taking names here, I'm going to have to see if your male aspect is every bit as hot as your female one."

If it weren't for the life or death situation, Ranma would have eaten dirt on the spot.

Instead, a pinkish hue settled over her cheeks, while the youma pressing forth before them helped take her mind off the innuendo she easily recognized. Ranma's concern disappeared as quickly as it had manifest as she watched the Queen's Own step forward, adding their voluminous fire to the front and pushing forth into the mass of demons. Prince Endymion's hand flexed and a yellow blade of light flashed into existence as he followed his men out into the chaos.

The mob quickly swallowed them from sight, but the sheer amount of ordinance being unloaded beyond the curtain of demons and corrupted human soldiers was painfully obvious; the advance continued amid the flashes of destructive firepower.

"Venus-chan, stay with my mother," Princess Moon directed, pulling away from the vanishing sight of her fiancé with some reluctance. "Guardian Saotome and I will hold the line here."

Sailor Venus nodded and was gone, winding her way back to the gate and the entranced Queen.

"How long until the rest go through?!" Princess Moon shouted back to one of the officers tending to the evacuation.

"The last are going through now!" An officer shouted from the dwindling crowd of refugees. "Call it ten minutes!"

The princess-guardian thrust her hand out and a new pink ball coalesced in its grasp before shooting out into the thickening mass of demons and possessed Terran soldiers. Ranma's own Moko Takabisha followed in close behind, matching the release of magical energy with the detonation of lethally compressed life force. Even as the damned died by fire and Ki, Ranma couldn't help but to frown at the fact that even though her technique manifested at three times the size of the princesses, the blonde's was nearly _ten times _as destructive. Her left hand swept out on its knife edge, cutting down another group of youma with a nearly invisible line of vacuum energy who were attempting to flank the survivors.

"You're doing that with Ki alone?" Moon marveled as eight youma staggered and fell to the ground in halves.

"Heh," Ranma chuckled dryly. "Could say the same about that little pink ball of death."

The Princess returned the humor with a smile, lighting off another pink magical bolt for emphasis. Another dozen youma ceased to exist on the spot. "Any chance you can summon another one of those elementals?"

"I wish," Ranma returned as the pair dealt with their individual targets. "Place is too much of a mess to set it up. Too many youma scattered all over the place."

"Damn," Sailor Moon, cursed, firing again.

"Yeah, that's what I said," Ranma returned with bitter humor, continuing to pump out her own Ki techniques but beginning to feel the fatigue setting in. _Feh, whatever_, she thought, focusing on dropping as many of the demons as she possibly could in the most efficient manner possible. If they kept this up, she'd have to drop back to hand to hand techniques, and then—

"_Endymion!"_ The princess suddenly exclaimed to her right, staggering as if hit physically. Ranma moved in to cover the girl's lapse, unleashing a Moko Takabisha double to buy them some breathing room. The redhead looked down at the blonde with concern, her blue eyes alternating between her and the infringing enemy warily.

"What happened?"

"Something has happened to Endymion-sama!" The girl's voice quavered her own blue eyes unfocused as if she were seeing some dire event herself.

Ranma grimaced and evaluated their tactical options, then glanced back at the nearly empty gate. "Yo! How are we looking?!"

"Last thirty, Guardian!" The reply shouted back to her. The martial artist took the new information in stride and turned over to the nearest armored trooper.

"Fall back on the gate," She ordered, pulling Moon back to her feet. "Once the last ones go—"

"_You can run, but you cannot hide, Queen Serenity!"_

Ranma's head whipped around and Moon's own blue eyes snapped up as the disembodied voice echoed around them. Ranma growled, "Let me guess…"

"…_Queen Beryl_," The Princess frowned, scanning the horizon and the all of a sudden passive youma.

A black lightning bolt suddenly pierced the sky fifty meters behind the youma's front line, coalescing into the figure of a female in a long, form fitting purple dress that encased her ample cleavage and unnaturally pale skin. A flowing red mane drifted in the breeze as she floated above the field of battle, surveying the ruined capital with glowing red eyes and a malicious smile.

"My, my, Serenity-chan," The woman smirked, putting a long bony finger to her chin as if to contemplate. "I love what you've done to the place... It reeks of _abject failure_."

Ranma stared at the woman, all but tasting the thick waves of evil rolling away from the her aura and the heavy, dark magic blanketing the area. Two years of non-stop combat had taught Ranma one thing about these sort of stand-offs, and that was that shit was about ready to hit the fan.

_Passed that line a loooong time ago,_ another part of her quipped before her mindset shifted, immediately jettisoned any humorous take on the situation and dropped into full tactical mode, her head snapping back to the troopers holding behind her.

"Gate. _Now._" She ordered, her tone leaving no room for argument. The troopers moved to obey and their withdraw drew the floating woman's attention.

"And the little moon-whore, how quaint," Her malevolent grin twisted into a snarl. "You stole my Endymion's heart and now it's time I repay your trespass."

"_Oh God, no…"_

Ranma barely heard the blonde's whisper and the redheaded sorceress raised her arm outward.

_**CRACK!**_

A shadowy lightning bolt flashed through her grasp and the mangled, broken form of Prince Endymion materialized in her hand. The fact that he hung lifelessly told everything Ranma needed to know about his condition.

"You can have him, whore," Beryl spat and pulled back, heaving his body clear of her ranks and landing with a tumble before Moon who was frozen in shock. "I know I'm positively _spent._"

Moon was emotionally gone now, already suffering from crushing despair as she watched the last spark of life fade from her fiancé. Ranma, however, was not and her hand flexed into a knife edge.

"_Kijin Raishu Dan Zekkou_."

The massive vacuum blade ripped away from Ranma's hand as she swung through the pivot, releasing the store of inverted Ki and tearing through the fifty meter space in under a second. Beryl's eyes widened as the nearly invisible attack was upon her within the space of a breath, allowing for barely enough time to draw upon the infernal power granted to her to deflect its potential around and away from her person. There had been no power up. No special attack sequence. No _warning._ Just the flick of her hand and… Pressure caressed her body with lethal promise, sending her purple dress a-flutter but little else.

"A pathetic effort, child," She sneered, looking down upon the shell shocked blond and her red headed counterpart with contempt. "If that's the best you can… do?" She paused as a red strand floated across her vision, followed by another and then a red lock of her own hair; drifting away with the breeze. Ranma smirked with more confidence than she felt, but her mood improved upon seeing the irregular angle notched into the woman's tresses; her patronizing smile contorted with rage.

"Kill them all!"

The formerly passive mob surged forth with her command and Ranma was already stepping through a dance all but forbidden by her father. Like the technique she had just unleashed on the floating woman, it was sealed for a reason, but with the Princess on the ropes mentally and no backup, she needed a martial arts technique of mass destruction.

The dance of a mad demon god fit the bill perfectly.

The technique was one Ranma had never committed to live fire simply because of its destructive nature, but she had practiced the movement and it was, at its core, simply a modification of the vacuum blade. Ranma found her center of gravity and began to move through the dance in a graceful blur that Kumon Ryu could have never hoped to achieve. The martial artist's hands swept out and youma _died_. The initial wave of Beryl's front line simply fell apart as vacuum blades eviscerated the demons in depth, and any push forward was instantly met by a dozen more of the zero-atmosphere Ki razors that carved entire swaths out of the new offensive.

"Snap out of it, Moon!" Ranma hollered as she twisted through a new cycle, dealing death with every sweep but feeling the fatigue of battle. It had been nearly a day and a half of back to back battles and damned if she wasn't feeling the strain. She needed the girl's heavy artillery and she needed it _now_. "Dammit, if you don't—!"

"_RED!"_

Ranma spun around on a heel just in time to watch the Guardian of Venus abandon her sword with a mighty heave in her direction, sending the crystal blade in a long arc in her direction. The weapon gained height and the woman was back to her own defense of the Queen in a flash, slashing back at encroaching youma with her own magical segmented whip of golden power.

The throw of the blade was precise and the redheaded martial artist danced into its return to earth. Anybody else would have more than likely been impaled by the tumbling weapon's ballistics, but Ranma judged the timing masterfully and snatched the blade out of the air. It pulsed white-blue on contact, but that didn't stop her from using its momentum to twist into the nearest group of youma and commence to do _damage_. The claymore was nearly as tall as she was, but danced lightly in her hands despite the apparent mass; allowing Ranma tore through the group like a buzz saw. Limbs, heads and anything else that desired to meet the sword's molecular sharp edge were hacked away as if they were little more than putty

By the time Ranma had rolled clear of the group, nearly two dozen youma had been either killed or sufficiently maimed to shock the rest into a slower, more wary advance. That, and she was sure the glowing blue light emanating from the blade itself had something to do with it. She took the moment to revise her own combat strategy, slipping out of the German broadsword form she had been using and into the looser one of taijiquan. On one hand she knew that wielding a weapon as massive as this one would have necessitated a focus on momentum based sword play, but the claymore was somehow unnaturally light enough to where she could literally throw it around like the lighter weapon taijiquan demanded. With mobility being the difference between life or death, she was more than happy to trade forms and backed off as the youma advance came in.

"Moon, if you don't get a hold of yourself, we're plain dead," She stated calmly over her shoulder, waiting for a demon to work up enough nerve to come back into melee range.

"I… don't care…" The whisper came and Rama's eyes widened with the announcement. "…Can't… can't live without him…"

"Moon—"

"Just… kill me… Please!" Ranma glance back to find two despair filled eyes staring back at her. "I… I loved him… and now…"

"And now we get the bitch responsible for his death," Ranma snarled, all but willing the girl to listen. She stepped next to the Princess, pulling her up roughly even as she eyed the encroaching demon forces; especially the sorceress watching the entire scene with a cruel smile plastered across her pale features.

"You want to kill yourself? Whatever," Ranma's own gaze burned into the Moon guardians, forcing the words to sink in through sheer will alone. "But not before that witch pays, got it?"

"I can't—"

"Maybe not," Ranma cut off the blonde's self loathing abruptly. "But _we_ can."

Princess Moon Serenity took one last look of longing to the man she had loved before nodding acceptance. "He… He would have wanted it."

Ranma acknowledged the statement with her own solemn nod. "Then let's give him a proper farewell."

Something changed in the Princesses posture in that moment and the despair she had been wallowing in drained from her eyes to be replaced by something else entirely; the glinting edge of steel.

"The blood of million… _billions_ is something I cannot abide," She began darkly, a simple, gold and jewel wand appearing in hand. "The murder of my beloved, my soul mate… _All _shall be avenged…"

A pink aura encompassed the girl, its focal point emanating from the wand itself. Tangible waves of power flowed around Ranma now, and they continued to build until the pink light pulse brightly, transforming the princess entirely. She still wore the fuku, but it had been altered; adorned now by a gleaming silver breast plate and elegant white plate pauldrons. The wand in her hand, however was no longer a wand, but a dual bladed weapon with the curvature of a seminar on each end and a structure made hundreds of molecularly sharp crystalline feathers.

Vengeful blue eyes rose to turn upon the sorceress herself. "Your time has come, Queen Beryl. In the name of the Moon…!"

"…_We're going to kick your ass_," Ranma finished, bringing Guardian Venus' blade to bear on the sorceress.

"Then you will both—" Beryl's witty retort withered on her tongue as her front lines suddenly _died_, erupting violently in a pink bloom of catastrophic firepower, followed by her partners invisible blades.

Both Ranma and Moon were inside the youma ranks now, crystalline blades flashing even as the storm of magic and debris cleared. Surprise had been total and now both women flashed through demons large and small with absolute impunity, slaying the disorganized force before them with ruthless efficiency. Ranma Saotome took point aggressively, flowing through the jian form with a weapon much larger and far more lethal than the art would have usually permitted. The claymore swung like a light blade and she danced through her opposition's pathetic efforts to resist or flee in panic, chopping at them while dispensing the occasional vacuum blade to maximize her body count.

Serenity Moon was directly behind her, eviscerating her own youma but providing the heavy artillery. Any attempts at reorganizing a counterattack in reprisal to their new offensive were met by simple, overwhelming force in the form of a near kiloton range magical warhead. Pink detonations roared within the demonic host, vaporizing scores of the horde outright while maiming dozens more.

Queen Beryl's cheek twitched as the forces between her and the Princess evaporated, causing her to float back as a precautionary measure. "Shivarra commanders," She turned back to the protective ring of four greater demons. "Deal with—"

_BOOooM!_

Beryl's world suddenly rocked with a brilliant blue detonation forcing her to tumble through the sky a short distance before regaining control, She scrubbed her eyes clear and found the Princess's red headed friend recovering from the launch of a Moko Takabisha; an arrogant smirk on her face.

The witch snarled, gathering the power of black lightning in hand. "Suffer! YOU WILL--!"

_**BOOOM!**_

So fixated on the guardian was Beryl that she didn't even notice a second pink sphere blaze in from a different angle, detonating as it impacted against her protective wards. Pink fury lashed against her shields with enough power to not only addle her senses, but send her tumbling to the earth _hard_. Beryl hit the ground smoldering, barely righting herself from the uncontrolled tumble in time. She stood up from the crouch, battle damage already healing.

"KILL. THEM. NOW." Beryl grated, looking up at the Shivarra commanders furiously. All four pseudo females nodded and began to advance.

Ranma cleared another platoon of lesser fodder before running nearly smack dab into the first two story, four armed 'female' demon in plate, deflecting four sword strikes in rapid succession. Sparks scream away from each blade as she parried the attempts in sequence, bathing their duel in surreal, flashing rain. It was a duel that lasted only as long as it took Moon to line up a clear shot, blasting its two left arms away and afford Ranma enough breathing room finish the thing off herself. The greater demon collapsed and another was on her before she had time to pick her next target. Blades whirled in once more and the redhead countered at near Amaguriken speeds. Had the blade in her hand been a normal claymore, she'd have been dead by now. It would have been too unwieldy and the female thing before her too fast to mount a proper defense. Whatever it was, the crystal edge in her hand was far from normal and she decided to put it to the test, meeting the Shivarra's next stroke directly. Ranma applied the strength that could punch through boulders to the strike and metal shriek in agony as the steel of the demon's scimitar parted. The Greater's bottom right forearm parted with it.

"_SAOTOME!"_

The martial artist was about ready to press the advantage in full when the Princess warning screamed above the din of battle and her head jerk left, finding a clear corridor between her and Queen Beryl, who was already charging her own black lightning bolt.

_No time to attack, no time to evade! Shit shit shit!_ Ranma's intellect worked through the tactical angles in that split second, extended her free hand back at Beryl and began to concentrate Ki.

The redheaded witch simply smirked. "That won't save you, girl."

The black lightning released.

Ranma had less than two seconds from the time of warning to the actual attack itself to devise a defense and the lightning bolt itself burned down the twenty meter range at roughly the speed of light. In other words, the attack was instantaneous and met Ranma's improvised defense dead on.

_Craack_**BOOM!**

The redhead's aura resonated violently as black energy ripped thought it, shredding the barrier interposed between her person and the attack itself. The bolt dumped its remaining potential into the martial artist, blowing her off balance and sending her careening wildly through the mob of youma where she finally skidded to a halt thirty meters downrange. Smoke cleared and Ranma simply lay inert. The improvised Ki shield had done the job… _barely_, bleeding away just enough energy so that the lightning bolt hadn't been outright lethal. Still, it failed under the overwhelming assault and every sense Ranma possessed coursed with agony while the impact itself had endowed her with enough cuts and scrapes to ensure she was a bleeding mess.

Her eyes flickered open and the world was impossibly blurred. Sounds filtered through with a muffled quality as youma collected around her. Ranma clenched her teeth and fought her own motor skills to prop herself upright, only to wobble and fall back to the earth. Blurred youma closed, and Ranma shook her head, attempting to clear her senses. Another attempt to bring herself upright met with limited success kneeling, but no more combat ready. Ranma slurred a curse as a claw reached lazily in, and then…

…Pink.

Suddenly her entire world was bathed in brilliant pink and the youma instantly ceased to exist. Magical power roared around the martial artist, knocking her back to the ground as the ground around her was bathed in pink fire. Another youma appeared before and suddenly the blonde was there, twisting through a glinting arc and cutting the creature into three distinct sections with the dual bladed scimitar before settling beside her.

"…_aotome…!"_ the muffled voice called out something indecipherable, and Ranma stared without comprehension. "…_walk! We need to….!"_

"SAOTOME!"

Blue eyes blinked and the world finally snapped back into focus. Kneeling before her was the Princess wearing a concerned look. "Can you hear me?"

"Ya…Yeah," The redhead replied shakily, once more attempting her balance. This time she met with considerably more success and wobbled to her feet with the blonde's help. Moon handed her the crystal blade she had lost in the tumble, which she used as a crutch. "Shit that _hurt_."

"I'm surprised you survived it, frankly," Moon frowned. And she _was_. The girl had no bindings or armor, but the fact that she was even able to stand was… "Hold still."

Ranma complied and the princess put her palm to the martial artists forehead and began to glow with pink energy. This time, Ranma recognized the technique immediately. "You're a healer too?"

"Hardly," The blonde left her hand for a moment long before pulling away. Ranma's wounds had smoldered shut for the most part, save a couple here and there. Either way, she was feeling considerably better than a minute ago. "Mother insisted I learn the basic spells, however."

"I'll take what I can get," Ranma nodded gratefully and turned back out toward the wary youma once more. Beyond them were the last two Shivarra guardians and Beryl herself, close enough to where a final, brutal offensive could prove decisive. "I say we finish this. I'm getting tired of that smirk."

Two pairs of blue eyes locked with a single pair of red and Moon nodded. "_Let's._"

The sword came up and Ranma was gone in a blur even as pink bolts erupted around her, annihilating youma left and right. The redhead rocked with the close proximity impacts, but kept her footing, engaging anything that hadn't been blown to pieces by the princess's pink balls of death. The crystal blade flashed and Ranma was through the first rank, leaving a trail of bisected corpses in her wake even as she crashed into the second. Sailor Moon closed ranks as her own weapon arced with deadly grace, cutting down anything that managed to close on their rear quarter while Ranma took her turn at dispensing larger, blue spheres of destruction.

_CRAAccack!_

One of the two remaining Shivarras teleported in, cleaving the space Ranma and Moon had just stood with two giant scimitars while the other two sought their targets independently. Ranma rolled out and took the blade meant for her directly, parrying it away while moon lit off another pink blast, only to have it deflected into impotence by the weapon itself.

Ranma made the most of the greater demon's divided attention, breaking through the single blade and forcing the Shivarra to dedicate a second, then third blade to her own defense. The redhead managed to get a good nick on the leg and the fourth and final scimitar came up, allowing Moon to fully concentrate on the other youma threatening their defeat in detail. The whirlwind of swords continued, seemingly continuing to press Ranma back until a wave front of high pressure snapped around the demon like a vice. Ranma stepped inside the small spiral and anchored the sword, thrusting her other hand into a skyward uppercut. She had only achieved two revolutions on the stunted spiral, but the whirling dervish of blades helped fortify the technique and now the demon was thrown skyward while its blades flew out across the field of battle like scythes.

She turned and found the last remaining demon standing between her and Beryl, then looked back at the embattled Princess, fully engaged by the youma attempting to swarm her. Their eyes locked for a moment and the blonde nodded. Ranma couldn't hear the words, but she read them off her lips perfectly.

_Do it._

Ranma nodded and turned back to the demon and Queen Beryl, breaking out into the fastest spring she could manage. Behind her, Princess Moon Serenity gave her weapon a mighty heave and the magical double bladed scimitar tore through the ranks between her and Ranma like a buzz saw, finding open air and arcing back down into the martial artist's path. The final Shivarra brought all four blades up, ready to fend off the redhead but completely missing the guided circular saw that floated in off her flank, removing three of the demons four arms. Purple blood gushed and the remaining blade came down, offering Ranma Saotome her path to height. She ran along the flat of the blade and buried her own in the Greater Demon's head, using it as leverage for even greater altitude.

Free of the claymore's mass, she tumbled though the open air with purpose, mixing hot and cold Ki together to form the catalyst of the most lethal attack in her arsenal, one that would shove anything short of immortality up that woman's ass.

"_HIRYU…"_

The sorceress watched the similarly red haired girl clear the last demon and gain altitude on her, twisting through air improbably while trails of frost began to streak away from her extremities. Black lightning began to coalesce in Beryl's hand and she sneered. If it was a suicide run the girl was after, she'd be more than happy to oblige.

"…_HYOU…"_

Ranma recovered from the spin, satisfied with power she had built up enough cold Ki to do the job even as she began to fall from her ballistic arc. The attack would drain the last of her reserves, but… Ranma committed to the technique with her own frost bitten arm even as the woman below pulled back to unleash her own final attack. _Not like Saffron_, she smiled grimly. This time, she had a clear line all the way to the target and Ranma intended to make the most of her first strike advantage.

"…_**TOPPA!"

* * *

  
**_

**F**ifteen thousand years up time, Setsuna Meiou stood by, patiently awaiting the return of on Ranma Saotome from the past. The time gates had locked on to his person and formed the requisite quantum bubble around him. Soon, transport would commence and…

"THREAT INBOUND!"

The Serenity AI shouted the panicked warning and the guardian's eyes widened in shock before reflex took control. The green haired Senshi rolled right and away from the gate's event horizon, which was immediately impaled by horizontal tornado that blasted out into the abyss beyond. She had no sooner righted herself when the gateway shuddered again, disgorging ragged looking redhead that followed the remains of the tightly wound tornado on pure inertia, slamming into the intangible resistance making up the time gate's surface. Ranma bounced once, then twice before tumbling to a stop some twenty meters away from the artifact itself.

Sailor Pluto simply stared with wide eyes, barely comprehending the ramifications of what had just occurred. On the other hand, she knew that whatever had happened, it had happened _big_ and she would undoubtedly be spending the next week or so analyzing that time wave in depth.

"Guardian Saotome's life signs read faint, but stable," Chibi-Serenity reported as she powered down the event horizon and closed the gate shielding. Setsuna was already running over to the redhead by the time the double doors closed and locked. "Severe chi depletion registered, moderate external and internal bleeding. Shall I inform an Earth side medical unit, Guardian Pluto?"

"No. I'll handle it," Setsuna replied, cradling the girl in her arms. _What the hell did you back there, Saotome?_ She could handle most of the injuries herself, while the chi would be replenished with rest. _Lots _of rest. "Pull every archive of the Fall from the Mercury database. I want to…" The woman developed a quizzical look on her face as she just realized something. "Wait… _Guardian_ Saotome?"

"Affirmative," the AI nodded passively. "Comparative temporal database analysis indicates Ranma Saotome was named a Guardian of the Realm by Queen Serenity herself on, December 16th, Silver Millennium 8325; seventeen-oh-five Lunar Standard Time."

"_Sonofa…_" Setsuna mumbled starring at the torn up girl in her arms. "What the hell did you just _do_…?" The Guardian rose to her full height, carrying the limp and unconscious redhead up carefully.

"Open a gate to my apartment… We'll sort this out later."

* * *

**Q**ueen Isis Serenity the Third stared out at the ruins of her beloved city, now teaming with youma and the Terran damned. Guardian Venus had only moments before been consumed by the horde attempting to overrun their position and then her own daughter as she and the time displaced girl mounted their final assault on the former Queen Beryl.

Now the evacuation gate was silent. The last of the survivors had made it thought and she sealed the device herself. Nobody would be following her children to their hiding place. They could begin anew, safe from the demonic horde before her. Queen Serenity shook her head sadly. The young redhead's attack had almost succeeded. Whether she would have succeed in breaching the woman's defenses or not if she hadn't disappeared was something she would never know, but one thing the girl and her own daughter had done before departing their mortal coil was carve a clear path straight to the evil queen herself. To point, the sorceress now stood woefully out of position and underpowered in answering Ranma's attack with one of her own, all but inviting her counterattack.

Queen Serenity smiled sadly and gathered the last of her power, bolstered now by the fact that she was free of her obligations to the porthole and nuclear defense. She gathered it all into a shining beacon of magical annihilation that boiled within her grasp.

"For my daughter… For her fiancée…" She whispered, raising the orb of power aloft. Two hundred meters beyond, Beryl seemed to realize the error her inattention had cost her and turned back to face Serenity with a horrified expression writ across her face. "For my Guardians and my people…" She continued, her voice moving from despair to finality. Beryl hastily attempted to recover power from her failed counterattack while ordering the disorganized host forward. "For those too innocent to know of your crimes and the depths of your corruption... _Vengeance_."

Queen Isis Serenity the Third pulled on the last of power, the sum total of her life force, holding her mortal enemy with a cold, crystalline gaze.

"In the name of the Moon, _you shall be Punished_."

* * *

**Author's Notes**  
Um, so yeah. This is a huge chapter. Frankly, I couldn't find a suitable point to break it off. So I missed my Christmas release date. Merry Christmas! And then my New Years release date. Happy New Year! So with that out of the way, I hope this beast makes up for the somewhat shoddy release schedule.

Arc Mines;_ Explosive propelled monofilament directional mines. One mine contains roughly 5000 strands of the monofilament wire measuring up to ten meters in length. Each strand is weighted on both ends, allowing the wire to function as both bolo and shrapnel._

Damadra T80 Assault Lance; _Standard man portable assault weapon of the Silver Millennium era. Fires high energy plasma at ranges up to 300m, damage dropping off with range. Can be fired in single, 3-shot, auto and stream modes. Reloads consists of single chamber 30mm magically compressed energy crystals._

Barrier Cannon; _Triple barrel large bore fixed artillery piece capable of projecting .5 kiloton plasma bolts to a range of 40km, 5 per second. Because of the power draw required to operate this weapon, it must remain hardwired to a permanent source of energy. Also, the enormous output of this weapon forces it to fire in no more than twenty round salvos or risk catastrophic failure due to the load placed upon all of the cannon's components, heat being the most critical factor._

Timewaves & Causality; _The result of a change to the past when viewed from the present. All changes are affected the instant the time wave passes the relative present of the observer. Only people specially shielded from the wave's effect will perceive the change of events that occur; all others will remember the changes as 'normal'. Timewave magnitudes are measured in 'chronoms', with numerically higher measurements indicating greater, more broad sweeping changes to the timeline. The Time Gate's shielding are rated to withstand a theoretical 9,852 chronom wave. This limit has never been tested._

Ki Dancer; _One skilled in the use and manipulation of pure life force. Due to the social focus of the day and magic pervading every aspect of Silver Millennium life, Ki Dancers were best utilized as physicians due to their near limitless ability to manipulate life energy. Ki-Dancers were rarely utilized as offensive aggressors since Magic normally proved more destructive when viewed from an efficiency standpoint. Likewise, Ki Dancers maintain their healing supremacy since manipulation of life force through magical means can result in oversaturation and magical induced shock._

Novis Lumina; _A small empire based out of the Orion Nebula. Collectively known as 'Starlights', its inhabitants are most noted for their ability to genetically change genders at will. They maintain peaceful, if neutral relations with the Silver Millennium. The Novis Lumina control five star systems and field a modest, technologically competitive star navy._

Errata;  
-All past Senshi died in the fall.  
-Ranma brought nothing forward with him.  
-This is not a Ranma-chan exclusive fic

**Special Thanks;** **TFF** was my at work scratch pad for this fic and I got some particularly insightful comments and suggestions in the process. Everybody there deserves my profound thanks. Special recognition to **Lawra**, whose contributions will become known shortly. Likewise** Amy**, **DCG**, **DT** and **Materia Blade** for the close fire support, **Mark** and **Justin** (and more Amy) for editing services rendered. If I forgot anybody, you know I love you ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**A Time Apart **  
Ch 3  
_By Ozzallos_

**_T_**_he Silver Millennium died. An empire that had once spanned a dozens of star systems across hundreds of light years of space ceased to exist in less than forty eight hours, as its host worlds were literally consumed by the demonic horde summoned forth by the Arch Queen Beryl. She enslaved her own populace, sacrificed them and then turned her unholy horde upon the heart of the empire itself, that silver jewel known as the Moon._

_It was from there, Ranma watched atop a hillside. A beautiful day, a lethargic portion of her consciousness noted as fluffy white clouds drifted across the bluish-purple sky. A forest laced the grassy clearing she stood in while the countryside seem to stretch on forever; rolling green plains and a city of pure crystal spires sprawled across the landscape; the earth hung on the horizon as if painted their by a master artisan. It was the picture of peace, perfect in every way until her eye caught a disturbing change in the place she called home. The dominate blue hue of her home world began to bleed away, muddying until leeched away by the growing splotch of crimson. Red curdled into the orb until the entire planet was consumed by it, and then…_

Flash.

_Off to the right. A hillside literally disappear beneath a blinding burst of light, and by the time her eyes adjusted, had been transformed into an apocalyptic fireball that tore its way into the heavens. A village nestled in the shadowy protection of the former hill was seared from existence in that single moment, and whatever the sudden inferno hadn't consumed, the monstrous shockwave mercilessly crushed. Green earth charred into black and another flash blazed across the blue sky, whiting it out for a split second before giving birth to another cauldron of fire. The first matured into a boiling mushroom cloud that tainted the sky red for miles; red as the Earth now was, and it wasn't long before the pair were joined by a third and forth._

_Fire bathed the plains now and one of the apocalyptic torches final found the great crystal city. A single burst wasn't enough to destroy the beautiful monument of humanity outright, but it stabbed into its very heart; a bonfire roaring amidst crystalline logs. _

_And then there was the screaming._

_By all rights, she should have been too far away from it all to hear anything except the thunder of nuclear annihilation, but that thunder was silent, and the cool breeze began to whisper to her ears… A multitude of voices, screaming in horror. She put her hands to her ears, but it did little to block out the wailing as another crescendo of fire bloomed within city. And then another. And more. The wind was shrieking with terror now as chunks of the great crystal metropolis were gutted, pieces at a time. Entire suburbs simply ceased to exist and the tidal wave of flame washed out into the surrounding countryside. More towns were devoured by the hungry blaze as it raced up toward her own vantage point, eating away the forests stretching out before her._

_Movement._

_There was movement in that forest; movement besides the dancing orange dervishes that consumed it. Ranma's blue eyes swept along the fire line in an attempt to pick out the new flurry of activity when it exploded. Life and death simultaneously erupted from the tree line as animals surrendered their sanctuary to the flame, each and every single one of them in some state of conflagration. Deer burned as they stumbled out, while rabbits and smaller creatures attempted to escape the same fate. Flocks of birds were caught up in the inferno, spontaneously combusting and fluttering to the ground in deadly spirals that in turn sparked off their own fires. A bear lumbered out of the blaze, already full engulfed and managing a good ten meters before simply falling over to fuel its own pyre._

_And still the fire spread toward her. Up the hillside, racing unnaturally toward her and yet her muscles refused to obey the instinct to flee. Meters now. The screaming was now a deafening pitch, as if it had ridden the cresting wave of wildfire. _

_The wave of heat caressed her like a blacksmith's furnace. _

_The fire encircled her. Danced enticingly around her…_

…_Inviting her to join in the celebration…_

_...And then…_

* * *

"**S**end me back."

"No."

"Why not?" Ranma demanded, propping himself up upon the bed that had been his residence for nearly three days now; residence that had been, for the most part the unconscious sort. Now, he was awake, however... Awake and looking for answers.

"I can't..." Setsuna shook her head, and a subtle change of posture overtook her frame. The wounds had been opened once more with the martial artist's trip to the past, and she felt fatigue... _fifteen thousand years worth of it_; and the temptation sang to her like a siren. "No... Rather, I _won't_."

"Why. _Not_."

It wasn't even a question this time; closer to a threat, Setsuna noted silently. Almost amusing considering the person who had issued it was bedridden and was barely able to walk. _Almost_, she knew. The Queen didn't anoint guardians on a whim, and that was impressive enough. That, and his position was an easy one to rationalize. _Seductively easy,_ Setsuna knew from experience. After all, what was to stop them from taking a jaunt back to past? Kill some youma, assassinate Beryl and have some tea with the Queen afterward, right? The Silver Millennium would continue in all its glory with no one the wiser. Friends would live, family restored…

…Save the fact that that such an action had the very real possibility of instigating a critical temporal paradox, destroying reality as mankind knew it. Or maybe simply wiping out the countless other billions that had survived and thrived after The Fall. Surely they had an equal right to life? Even her Queen's direct order to not interfere in the past paled in comparison to those facts when it was all said and done, but there was still a single overriding reason that prevent her from stepping into the past to right those wrongs…

_Hitsuzen. _

And now she had to explain to another soul why they could never, _ever_ step foot into the past to change the here and now. The Guardian of Time took a deep breath and prepared to open some old, _old_ wounds.

"Sixteen thousand years ago," The emerald haired woman found a plush stitch chair next to the bed and settled in for the long haul. "Three sisters were born amid an era of chaos and strife. War raged around them and people died. Family… Friends…_ Billions._ Yet somehow they came through it unscathed, even as their loved ones died around them and the chaos continued."

The young man in the bed next to her looked as if he were ready to argue the relevance of her tale, but held his tongue as she continued. "During those days, there was no authority, no centralized government to keep the peace. Just leaders were rare and even those that managed to survive the other warlords would make little headway; ultimately becoming too busy watching their own backs and defending their own star systems to make any contribution toward a lasting peace."

"A dire time," The guardian shook her head with what Ranma interpreted as first hand reminiscence, as impossible as the fact seemed. Of course, everything about the last few days fell under that header, so the martial artist remained silent, allowing her to continue.

"Yet the sisters survived, due in no small part to their exceptional gifts. One possessed unparalleled magical potential, the other an affinity for time. The last sister could influence the very strands of fate itself and the three together took it upon themselves to_ set things right._ With these three tools at their disposal, they altered the very destiny of this galaxy, moving it from a machine of violence to one of peace and prosperity. It was this radical, unnatural shift that gave rise to the Silver Millennium."

A small, bitter smile found its way to her face. "It was also an arrogance that may have been overlooked, save the fact that their project was much more ambitious in nature. They didn't seek to simply predestine those events alone… No, they sought to alter those of everywhere and every_when_. The Silver Millennium would exist in every reality the sisters could touch, and they succeeded with disastrous consequences."

Ranma's eyes had lost their edge of disbelief now, completely engrossed in the events long since passed to dust. "And you were…?"

"Yes, I was," Setsuna sighed. "And moreover, we had warning. Our sister, the one tied to fate itself could feel it… _feel _the retribution coming. As I have been reminded recently, Hitsuzen does not like to be toyed with and would regain its balance by whatever means necessary. She tried to warn us, but we _knew_ better. We had come so far and it was _unfathomable_ that something could come along and destroy the peace we had worked so hard for…"

"The invasion."

"The invasion," She confirmed, letting her head roll back to stare at the ceiling without actually seeing anything. "Hitsuzen brought itself back into alignment, but the cost was catastrophically high. And like our own meddling, that balance was exact everywhere and everywhen we had touched…" A single tear rolled Setsuna's cheek. "Billions died that day- in this reality alone –to bring Hitsuzen back into balance."

"Shit…" Ranma whispered, fully aware of how completely inadequate the revelation was in light of recent events.

"And thus the reason why I have not already done what you now desire to do now," The Princess of Pluto pulled her head back from its vertical orientation, wiping away the single tear. "To defy Hitsuzen its balance further…" She shook her head. "I will not... I _dare not _do so, nor can I allow you to so in my stead."

"Then why the hell did you send me back in the first place!?" Ranma exploded after a moment of silent contemplation, bolting upright with renewed purpose. "I_ had_ her! I was about to shove a tornado of _ice_ up that bitch's ass!"

"How you actually escaped the temporal bubble is honestly beyond me," She shook her head, feeling the teen's anger as if it were her own. "Your expedition to the past should have taken no more than twenty minutes subjectively. You were never supposed to talk to _anybody_."

"Yeah, well, I talked to a _lot _of people," Ranma returned testily. "And aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"I'm surprised that wasn't your first question, actually," Setsuna chuckled mirthlessly, leaving the chair and angling for the doorway. "I need a drink."

The pigtailed boy watched with an arched eyebrow as the green haired Senshi depart the room, only to return minutes later with a decanter full of potent looking brown fluid and two smaller crystal glasses. She set the crystal trio on the nightstand next to Ranma's head and pulled the rosebud stopper from the container, setting it aside. One glass was poured, then the other, and Setsuna push the second his way.

"To lost friends." She raised the glass somberly, stared at if for a moment before pulling it back, downing the entire quarter of liquid in a single breath.

Ranma held the woman with widened eyes but shrugged. He hadn't been back in the past for more than two days, nor did he usually indulge in alcohol, but he had made friends and it was a sentiment that he could whole heartedly agree with.

"Lost friends." He agreed, raising the glass and tipping it back in kind. He barely drained half the glass before the beverage began to strip his throat of flesh, forcing him to desperately keep the coughing fit within to save face.

If Setsuna found the scene even remotely amusing, if failed to reflect in her face or body language as she poured herself another glass. She stared at it in silent contemplation for another minute before beginning anew. "I am alive simply because that was not me."

"Not you." Ranma stared levelly at her and the green haired shrugged it off with another drink.

"Correct." She confirmed. "I won't bore you with the mechanism behind it, but suffice to say this isn't my Earth, so what happened to her doesn't affect me from a causality standpoint."

"So there are… _were_… two of you?" Ranma squinted, attempting work the logic out himself with the limited theory at his disposal. The martial artist shook his head and pushed the bed's covers off, testing his left arm with a flex.

"Effectively, yes," She nodded, somewhat pleased that he was grasping the basics.

"And where you're _from_…" Ranma continued to wade through the treacherous waters of temporal mechanics tepidly. "…did it go as bad as it did here?"

"Almost," She admitted with little emotion. "On my Earth, the Silver Millennium still fell, but my Queen had enough left after sealing Beryl to reincarnate the Senshi in the here and now to protect the last remnant of humanity in the present."

"Then what happened…?" A key fact in her explanation clicked, and Ranma's focus narrow sharply. "Wait. _Sealed?_"

"My sister opted to spare Beryl in her final moments in my when," The Princess of Pluto detailed softly, sipping her drink. Ranma was out of bed now, testing his range of motion. He felt a bit weak, but otherwise okay considering his ki was ebbing at an all time low. "I'd like to think it was in the hopes of the Arch Queen's redemption… Sadly, that hope was intrinsically flawed. Beryl had let too much of her soul slip into the abyss, and she escaped later to challenge the Queen's daughter—"

"Moon Serenity," Ranma supplied, clearly remembering the girl she had the honor to fight alongside.

"Correct…" Setsuna stated with the slightest edge of awe. It was literally the first time in over fifteen millennia that she had heard the name spoken aloud by anybody other than herself.

"Cuz, that's really weird," Ranma had stopped any self assessment, concentrating on the matter fully. "Last I checked, we were about ready to hand that woman's ass to her."

"I… She…" Setsuna Meiou lapsed into a confused silence, staring at the unlikely guardian. Finally, she was able to rationalize her thoughts coherently, and for the first time since his awakening, smiled thoughtfully. She set her drink aside and took Ranma's hand gently. "For being there for her… _Thank you_."

With that, Setsuna turned away, leaving Ranma alone in the room and closing the door behind her.

* * *

"**E**ngland?!"

"London, to be exact," Setsuna barely suppressed the smile that threatened to break out upon detailing the news. "Your trip to the past changed things, for the better and for worse."

"Woulda done even better if you had let me stay five seconds more," Ranma Saotome stared at the emerald haired woman who lounged back in the comfort of a curved black leather seat. The light jingle of Champaign glasses filled the air of their spacious compartment while sunlight attempted to pierce the vehicle's dark tinting with limited success.

She was driving him to the dojo in a limo. A goddamn_ limo_.

"And in doing so more than likely instigated a catastrophe magnitudes worse than the fall itself," She inserted patiently, clearly recognizing just how fresh his wounds were. "Think of it this way… Let's say you did the job and killed Beryl. What would have happened?"

Ranma leaned forward on the edge of his leather seat opposite of Setsuna, considering the question. "Well… She wouldn't be around to cause trouble, I guess."

"Exactly," The Guardian confirmed. "She would have died, her soul consumed and the infernal army with her. The Queen would not have had to resort to her final attack, or in my case, the sealing. It would be safe to assume she could have recovered the survivors on Earth and rebuilt anew."

"So what's wrong with that?" Ranma shrugged, not seeing anything bad in the logical progression of events.

"Well, you probably would cease to exist, for one," Setsuna began to tick the points off on her hand, causing Ranma to blink. "Secondly, everybody on the earth at this very moment would suffer the same fate. After all, the events leading to the birth of their parents and ancestors didn't transpire."

"But—"

"Oh, sure, statistically speaking you would have a straggler here and there, but even then, they wouldn't be the same person up here," She tapped her own left temple to emphasis the point. "And that's not even taking into account how Hitsuzen may balance itself out after the fact."

"Maybe," The pigtailed teen admitted grudgingly. "But what's this all have to do with England?"

"As I mentioned, your visit still changed a few things," She continued, gazing out the closest tinted window and out into the traffic passing beyond. "And England has become a nexus of activity for those changes."

"Figures," The martial artists huffed. "You realize I'm gonna catch all sorts of hell for this, right?"

"Would your decision change?"

"Nah," The answer wasn't even a question in Ranma's eyes. "I'll just tell 'em it's a training trip or something."

The woman turned back to face him, nodding. "Please keep our destination in the strictest of confidence. The threats we may encounter could very well rival those you encountered during the Fall. I have little doubt in your abilities- especially given your Guardianship by my sister -but the interference of amateurs is the _last _thing we need at this juncture."

"Got plenty of those in my life," Ranma chuckled, eliciting a slight smile from Setsuna.

"Indeed," The limousine rocked slightly as its mass rounded a corner and rolled to a stop. Ranma instantly recognized the gate of the Tendo Dojo from his vantage point. "I'll send the limo by at around midnight tonight. From there, we'll take JAL first class to London, Heathrow where we'll investigate the leads I've managed to acquire. Pack light."

_As if the limo isn't enough_, Ranma snorted mentally as he considered the travel arrangements. While he only had the vaguest of notions of what first class entailed, he knew it couldn't be cheap. The left door clicked open, piercing their spacious compartment with a beam of pure white light. Beyond that, their friendly chauffeur waited patiently for his departure.

Ranma gave the woman a final nod before stepping out onto the day lit sidewalk and stretched. The door shut behind him and the long car drove off, leaving him alone at the foot of the dojo gates.

"Nice ride, Saotome."

Ranma froze, knowing the characteristic drawl of the female speaker's voice instantly. Her turned to his right and confirmed the last person he really wanted to see watch him step out of a limousine.

_Nabiki Tendo. _

* * *

"**N**othing at the bridge, either," Nora reported evenly, keeping astride Nabiki's pace as the senior jotted down notes into a little brown book. "It's like he's dropped off the face of the Earth, sempai."

"With Saotome, I almost wouldn't doubt it," The middle Tendo rolled her eyes as the two continued to walk down the sidewalk discussing business. Today was day three and there was still no sign of the martial artist since his "interview" with the woman claiming to be a professor at Tokyo University. "How about this supposed teacher?"

"Seiya says she checks out," the black haired girl next to her replied. "Fully accredited history professor for the last four years, lives in lower Juuban, single."

"Bullshit," Nabiki shook her head, scratching something out of the notebook. "If she's a history professor, I'm engaged to Kuno. Computer records, right?"

"Yep."

Nabiki nodded as they turned onto the next street, gaining sight of the dojo gates of her family's namesake. "Too much trouble to get hard copies... Looks like we'll just have to grill him for the information when he gets back."

Nora nodded as she followed her superior across the street. Even as they did so, a jet black limo rounded the corner opposite of their position, pulling up to a smooth stop next to the dojo gates.

"Expecting company, Boss?" The girl asked with an appreciative glance as the driver's side door opened and a chauffeur exited the vehicle. Both girls had stopped, watching while the driver circled around the front and opened the passenger door. "Kuno, maybe?"

"Doesn't look like one of his," Nabiki shook her head, waiting to for the passenger to depart. _That, and it would be the Sasuke playing chauffeur,_ she added mentally. They didn't have long to wait either way as the black haired occupant stepped out of the blacked out limousine into daylight.

Nora cheek twitched, her voice elevating to a wheezing hiss. "Sa…Sa… _Saotome?!_"

"Oh, I can't wait to hear this one," Nabiki's face manifested a predatory grin, then turned to her subordinate. "You know what to do."

"Already on it." The black haired girl's head bobbed, leaving the middle Tendo to walk across the street and wait for the martial artist to notice her. The limo drove off and Nabiki smiled.

"Nice ride, Saotome."

"Nabiki," he returned warily upon finding the person he least want to see at the moment. His blue eyes darted from her person to the girl walking down the street in the opposite direction. His face turned bland. "How long do I got?"

"About as long as it takes for her to find the nearest payphone," Nabiki probed, leading the martial artist through the property gate and along the stone path to the household's front door. "So, three days, Saotome... Anything you would like to tell me?"

"Nothin' you won't be finding out with everybody else in a minute," Ranma returned dryly, following the middle Tendo into the house. The comment incited the sister to chuckle.

"But it's so much more fun to—"

"BOY!" Genma Saotome lurched into the hallway, nearly plowing over Nabiki in order to grab his son and shake him furiously. "Where the hell have you been!?"

The rest of the family was now gathered around, watching Ranma extricate himself from his father's throttling with a deft elbow to the top of his head, sending him hard to the floor.

"Oh my," Kasumi tilted her head, watching the violence play out as if it were a fact of life. Sadly, _it was_. "We were beginning to wonder if you had eloped with that nice history teacher."

"ELOPED?!" Akane yelped, an angry red aura fueled by assumption snapping into place. Nor was she the only one. Even as she took her step forward, Soun's own aura had twisted into a horrid visage, towering over the martial artist.

"RANMA, HOW COULD—!"

His rant was cut off- _sliced off_, as a matter of fact –as a null pressure blade carved through the demonic visage and into the roof with a lethal hiss. Soun Tendo froze instantly, recognizing the technique clearly. Akane was still moving forward with her fist, only to have her wrist caught, twisted and rotated 180', flipping her hard to the ground.

A meter's length of sunlight now shown overhead; a thin line that light that opened out into sky and crossed the Tendo patriarch's forehead like a dividing razor.

Nor was the symbolism lost on anybody else, who had likewise frozen. Even Nabiki stared down at the martial artist, who held his crouch and the knife edge of his hand off to the right. _His eyes… So cold… _She couldn't remember the last time he had taken to physical violence toward any member of the family, let alone Akane and Daddy. His own father, sure, but the fat panda was fair game. _And the attack!_ It wasn't the standard Saotome beat down.

"Eh, sorry 'bout that…" Ranma blinked and the business end of martial artist's personality faded away like water. Akane lay off to the side, flat on her back and completely unmoving as she stared at the line carved into the ceiling above her. He favored the family with an apologetic look. "…been a rough couple of days."

"I'll put it on your tab, Saotome," Nabiki shrugged indifferently, pulling the stunned younger sister up. The fact that he had even flipped Akane to the ground was nearly unprecedented, let alone nearly decapitated their father. All in all, indifference was definitely _not_ something she was feeling at the moment.

"Uh, yeah," Ranma nodded passively, extracting himself from the group slowly by walking around the still frozen Soun Tendo and back toward the guest room. "Just deduct it from what you owe me. But later. Gotta pack."

"Pack?!" Akane blurted, now upright and staring at her part-time fiancé. "You just got back!"

Nabiki blinked. _'What you owe me?_' _What I owe HIM? _"As if, Saotome. What's _really_ going on?"

"And if I hear the word fiancée, I'm going to beat you first, then your moron father," The family turned, finding Ukyo in the door, hefting her combat spatula. The look on her face indicated that her words were a joke… Mostly.

"Stupid Panda need too-too good beat down for so many engagements," Shampoo quipped from behind her, flashing Genma her own look that promised less joking and more violence should further fiancées come to pass. The man squirmed under her gaze.

"Look, it's… a training mission. Leaving tomorrow." Smiles bloomed on two of the three fiancées present, the remaining one staring him down with thinly veiled suspicion.

Nor was Akane alone. Nabiki scrutinized the pigtailed boy's features, but her suspicion was not born out of natural distrust for gender changing martial artist with a propensity for inadvertently collecting woman like one would collect coins or butterflies. No, Nabiki was a business woman, and Ranma Saotome was a large amount of her business these days. There had been just a little too much hesitation in his explanation to take at face value, and she resolved to watch him more closely even as she collected her fee from the fiancées present.

Genma was the other party not buying his son's 'training mission', and not simply for the fact that Ranma couldn't lie worth a damn. The boy had used a _vacuum blade _on his old friend, and while Ranma could have been accused of many things, lethal excess was not one of them. _Three days_, the Saotome mused, studying his son covertly. Something had happened in those three days, and it wasn't likely a fiancée.

Or at least he didn't think it had been.

One couldn't be too careful.

"Well, you'll definitely need somebody to cook for you," Ukyo effused smugly, ensuring her place on the training mission. Shampoo's head whipped around on the black-haired Okanomiyaki artist, taking issue with the statement.

"Is no need pizza girl go!" The purple haired Amazon leaned into the girl's face, eyes flashing with challenge. "Needs fiancée who cook _and_ fight good."

Nabiki rolled her eyes. The result was just too predictable.

"You saying I can't fight, Sugar?" The pair was nose to nose now, a bright blue and purple spark dancing between the space of their foreheads.

"Hey! I'm a good cook too!" Akane blistered at the unintended slight of being excluded, and both girls looked at the youngest Tendo condescendingly. Akane snarled. "I'll prove it! I'm going along too!"

"Oh hohohohohohooo!" A new girl bounced into the doorway, black rose peddles dancing in the wind around her. All eyes turned to the leotard clad girl. "You peasants are not worthy to cook for my Ranma-sama!"

Ranma let out a sigh from the back of the group, turning away from the growing horde of fiancées unnoticed. He leaned over to Kasumi with tired look. "When they're done, tell 'em I'm going alone. Be in the room packing."

The eldest Tendo nodded with an oblivious smile, turning away from the growing commotion in the doorway as well, leaving Genma and Soun to watch the boy's retreat. Soun was the first to finally speak.

"Genma, old friend… that technique…"

"I know, buddy, I know…" the balding man adjusted his glasses, watching Ranma turn the corner to the guestroom and out of sight. "I'll have a word with the boy."

* * *

**T**omorrow.

That's the day he had told them. Ranma shoved another set of tangs into his backpack, then pulled the rolled up tent out of the closet to inspect its condition. Something crashed down stairs and the martial artist winced with the secondary impacts. _That_ was why he had told them tomorrow… And why he was secretly leaving _tonight_. He didn't like lying to them, but he'd probably never get out the door; at least not without the entire circus following him all the way to England.

_Last thing I need is for them to walk into that shit-storm's fall out_, he groused, absently noting the aged tent canvas was on its last leg, but still had a few days of life in it. He shoved the would be shelter into the backpack as well, continuing down his mental checklist of supplies and necessities. _Can pick up food on the way out… canteen… _

"Boy."

Ranma turned to the voice of his father with an arched eyebrow. There was little doubt in his mind as to what the topic was going to be, so he preempted the balding martial artist. "Save it Pop. Nobody's goin' along on this one, not even you."

He found another silk shirt and began to fold it, studiously ignoring the old man staring at him from the guest room doorway. Genma remained there, watching silently. After another minute, Ranma turned back to him.

"I said ya ain't goin', so take a hike," The staring continued, now accompanied by a serious visage. Finally, Ranma put the pack aside. "Alright, fine. I'll beat the notion out of you if that's what ya want."

Ranma stared at his father, who stared back unperturbed. Another full minute passed of complete inactivity before Genma nodded, stepping into the room fully. "Were you planning on telling your mother?"

Ranma blinked. Where was the outrage? The scheming? 'Operation: Marry Akane or Die Trying'? Was this all another elaborate ruse to knock him off his guard? "Yeah…" the pigtailed boy continued hesitantly. "…Yeah I was."

"Good," Genma nodded, walking past Ranma. He glanced at the pack momentarily, then gazed out the window. "She'll worry less that way."

"Uh, sure…" Ranma was completely befuddled now. If this was part of some master plan, it was on a higher order than his old man had demonstrated to date. "Needed to pick up a few things anyway."

"A little advice," Genma continued to stare out the window, then turned on him with the ever so slightest of smiles. "If she objects to not toting the girls along, just tell her that your training mission of manly importance."

"Manly… importance?"

"She'll go along with anything you say." Genma nodded and walked back to the doorway, affecting a stretch. "Weather's supposed to be nice tonight," he mentioned in a seemingly wistful, self absorbed tone. "I'll probably sleep pretty soundly tonight."

With that, the Saotome patriarch was gone, leaving a stunned Ranma blinking in his wake.

_Did the old man just give me a pass?_

* * *

**H**alf an hour later, Ranma Saotome walked down the street with an entourage that would have left most men a jealous, drooling puddle of hormonal goo. Bouncing along side him was the perky and occasionally homicidal Amazon known as Shampoo. While known to use various hair care products in battle, she was not one herself in spite of her namesake. She was, however, a bombshell and the colorful, generally tight fitting silks she wore regularly caused no small amount of envy among the male populous of Nerima as she passed by.

Beside the Chinese hottie and consequently vying for the martial artists attention was Ukyo Kounji. Unlike Shampoo, she was not a product of China and was every bit the consummate chef, if not more-so. A smallish okanomiyaki danced in her hand as she attempted to ply it to her fiancé, while her blue on white obi and dark blue leg warmer tights left nothing to the imagination in terms of her physic. Had the innocent male bystander thoughts become manifest, Ranma would have been rendered lifeless on the spot as they took his place. In fact, his body would have been found impaled by numerous blunt objects, all rusty and sure to have induced great pain before his death.

Leaping to a fro around the group was a sight that would have inspired no small amount of fear- and lust -in those anonymous male pedestrians. To some, that fear was a bonus. A ribbon certain to ensnare the martial artist twirled behind her as she danced happily, at times wrapping around her well toned physic and sole garment of clothing; a skin tight leotard.

Akane and Nabiki Tendo brought up the rear of the group. Neither were quite as animate as the trio in front of them, though that reflected little on their own considerable physical attributes. Nabiki herself favored tighter clothing. She had a body and knew how to use it, carrying herself with calm, cool indifference as she watched the commotion play out before her. She herself wasn't a Saotome fan per se, but he was an investment and she kept track of her investments. Akane watched the commotion from the other end of the of the spectrum, boiling with malcontent that gave her a hot, fierce beauty if one could overlook the potential outbreak of imminent violence.

Many men would have died to be in the martial artist's position.

Those men didn't have a clue.

"Why you're all taggin' along is beyond me," Ranma shook his head, eyeing the energetic females around him warily as they proceeded through the prefecture. The attention they were gathering was becoming disconcerting. "It's just my Mom's house."

"I'm just making sure the Amazon bimbo there doesn't take advantage of you, Ranchan," Ukyo smiled sweetly before shooting a glare over to Shampoo, who in turn wrapped around Ranma's arm possessively.

"Is spatula girl who take advantage," Shampoo retorted, turning her nose up at Ukyo. "Beside. How good is girl who can only cook one thing?"

"Whatever, noodle—"

_Whip_SNAP!

"Ow!"

"OW!"

Shampoo's hand now glowed a rosy red and Ranma favored his stinging elbow as Kodachi gazed at the Amazon with unflinching superiority. "You shall refrain from pawing _my_ Ranma-sama, low born vagrant."

The trio stopped on the sidewalk to stare one another down and Ranma kept walking. Nabiki and Akane likewise walked around the group, catching up to the Saotome.

"Honestly, why do you keep stringing them along?" Akane grumped, keeping pace with the martial artist while Nabiki tag teamed, fishing for information.

"And what's so important at your Mom's house, anyway?" She all but sneered, likewise sure she smelled blood in the waters of profit… The only question now was _where_.

"Just picking up some food and stuff for tomorrow's trip," Ranma answered nonchalantly. _Too_ _nonchalantly _for Nabiki's tastes, so she dug.

"Food and stuff, hmm?" She remarked innocently. "How long will this training mission last?"

For the first time, Ranma turned his full attention on the girl, his usually immersive blue eyes having cooled several degrees.

"As long as it takes."

Nabiki nearly stumbled with the point blank delivery, sending her mind awhirl as she considered the implications of his body language and tone. Something serious was going down, but what? _Saotome finally grew a spine and made his own choice of fiancée?_ The Tendo glanced back at the squabbling trio in their wake, who were only now realizing they had been left behind._ Not any of them, that's for sure. The teacher? Saotome doesn't move that fast. Something else then. Perhaps it really is a training mission, but something about the pretext is entirely too serious… _

"Ran-chan, wait!"

"Aiyah, Airen get away!"

"Ranmaaa-samaaaa!"

_So much for pressing him for more information_, she decided as the fiancées closed back in on the martial artist. Not that it would matter. They'd be at his mother's house in five minutes anyway and their conversation was sure to be quite enlightening.

Inane fiancée chatter filled that five minutes as the girls took their own turns plying the martial artist for more information on the trip with about as much success, following him all the way to the house door where his mother greeted them all with a maternal smile.

"Come in Ranma! And your friends too!" She smiled knowingly at him and the girls. Nodoka stepped aside and her son stepped in, who in turn closed the door immediately behind him. Protests immediately sounded through the closed door as the denied fiancee's objected to the action. The Saotome matriarch blinked, staring at the door, then him. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather invite those lovely ladies inside?"

"Nah," Ranma shrugged, stepping out of the hallway. "Just coming by to pick up a few things for a training mission tomorrow."

His mother considered him thoughtfully, then nodded. "Of course. I'm sure I can make some sandwiches for you." Ranma followed her into the kitchen where she began to pull a loaf of bread from a side cabinet. "So is there _anybody else _going along on your training mission?"

_A female somebody, right?_ Ranma sighed mentally, but stayed the course. "Nope, just me."

"Oh, I'm sure one of those lovely girls would be quite willing to help along the way," The admission didn't faze his mother one bit. "Especially Akane. Of course, that nice okanomiyaki girl would—"

"Alone, Mom," Ranma shook his head, deciding to fall back on his father's advice. "It's of manly importance."

Nodoka stilled suddenly, as if considering the onion she had just been about to slice. The moment passed and she turned back Ranma with a gentle smile. "Of course it is. The girls will just have to be patient then."

_Just like that?_ Ranma fought to keep the shock from his face. Old man had actually steered him in the right direction for once? _Almost too easy… _

"How many do you think you'll need, Son?"

"How many… Oh," he realized she had been refereeing to one of the assembled sandwiches on the cutting board in front of her. "Uh, not sure. Might be gone a little bit."

"I see," She commented amiably, starting another. "Not ten years, I hope."

The question caught him off guard and he couldn't help but to chuckle. "Not a chance."

"Good," She replied, amusement clearly evident in her voice now. "I don't think I would approve of those antics a second time."

"Heh," Ranma snorted. As nice as it was to have a normal conversation with his mother, there was one final point to address. "Um, Mom… Need a favor…"

"Of course, son," She continued with her sandwich assembly, petitioning her attention between it and the request.

"Mom…" Ranma took a deep breath. _Here we go…_ "I need the katana."

Nodoka stilled once more. This time she turned back to him with a completely serious expression.

"So… _that kind _of training mission."

Ranma was captivated by her knowing gaze, and in that moment he knew there was no hope in hiding behind the pretext of training any longer. "Yeah… Yeah it is."

"I see." She abandoned the knife to cutting board and walked out of the kitchen for the living room, finding the sheathed blade hanging from a pair of simple dark stained wall mounts. She lifted the brown sheathed blade away, examining it and the blue wrapped hilt thoughtfully. "It has been in our family for six generations, the work of a master," She smiled, handing it to Ranma. "And I am proud that I may finally relinquish it to my manly son."

"Thanks… Thanks Mom." Ranma replied solemnly, taking the blade from her hand. It wasn't the fanciest blade he had ever laid eyes on, but he could tell by the construction and heft alone that his mother was right, and it would serve him well. "I wish I could tell you…"

"Hush," She shushed him absently. "Whatever it is, I'm sure that it is quite manly and you will tell your mother all about it upon your return."

Ranma stared at the woman as she transited back to the kitchen, as if seeing her in a new light for the first time, while outside, each girl had their own piece of the Saotome property staked out; independently straining to eavesdrop on the Mother and Son while spinning their own plans in order to secure their place on a training mission that was sounding less and less like one with each passing moment.

* * *

**A**t eleven fifteen PM, a pair of blue eyes snapped open. At first their owner didn't move, opting to get a feel for the environment around him first before committing to action. His aura flashed out subtly like radar, sensing the immediate area.

_Shampoo, Ukyo or Kodachi on the roof_, Ranma surmised as he tasted the female ki floating away lazily overhead. _Probably asleep like Akane in the room upstairs._ Another aura whispered to him, this one below and centered near the house hold's living room. _Male… Sasuke? Would leave Shampoo or Ukyo on the roof then… _

Next to him, the Panda snored loudly, all but assuring the martial artist that his father was dead to the world. He pushed the blanket aside and rose to his feet quietly, finding his silks hanging from a hook on the closet. He slipped them on and retrieved his pack from the corner, thankful for once as his old man's snoring masked his movement further. Still, couldn't be too careful.

Ranma concentrated, reversing his own aura with a technique that would make him all but invisible to the outside world. Invisible wasn't quite right, he amended, stepping up onto the already open windowsill. People were simply encouraged not to notice him now and he made full use of the technique, hopping out into the warm night's air. He stepped silently across the dojo property and leapt up to the wall, noticing for the first time which female had taken to the rooftop outpost. On the wooden slats sat Shampoo, dipping in and out of her sleeping state.

That left Ukyo and Nabiki.

He scanned the area from his wall borne vantage point now, searching for the other players that would be tracking him. Ukyo he wasn't certain about. His childhood friend was nowhere about. Nabiki however, was damn predictable as evidenced by the slightly conspicuous female jogger trotting by the Tendo compound along the street. He was willing to bet that same girl had already jogged by several times tonight, studiously taking notes of any suspicious activity.

Headlights flashed onto the street and a limo turned the corner, pulling to a stop right beside the gate below his person. Ranma frowned.

_Activity like that._

Ranma shrugged to himself, assessing the damage. _Nabiki's gonna know I left, but that's not a surprise. Shampoo's still waking up. Ukyo's nowhere in sight, Sasuke's probably trying to crawl out from under the house…_ Deciding the getaway was still salvageable, Ranma hopped down to the sidewalk where the chauffer was opening the door; nearly giving the man a heart attack as he dropped the Umi Sen Ken cloak behind him.

"Eh, Sorry about that," Ranma apologized sheepishly and the suit nodded.

"Of course," He replied, having regained his composure quickly enough to impress the martial artist. "Miss Meiou is waiting inside."

The man beckoned Ranma inside and Ranma peered within, finding the emerald haired woman within, smiling back mysteriously. Unlike the lavender before, she now wore a black business suit and skirt and beneath it, a white business shirt and purple neckerchief tied into a bow. She shifted a shapely leg, moving aside for him.

"Welcome back, Saotome-san," She brushed a lock of green hair away from those red eyes. Even though he knew they were bad thoughts, the woman was_ beautiful._ "Shall we?"

"Uh, yeah," He agreed, sliding into the limo and onto the leather seat next to her. He pushed the backpack off onto another spacious seat. "Need to get going before the rest notice I'm gone."

The door closed and the driver reentered at the wheel. Setsuna's smile turned mischievous. "Ah yes, quite the ladies man if I recall. Even so, you are quite correct. Ours is not their business. Driver?"

"The airport, Miss Meiou?"

"Please." The limo lurched to a soft roll and began to pick up speed. Setsuna turned back to Ranma, but the man spoke again.

"Ma'am, the rear view if you please."

The guardian pressed a button and a flat screen slid out of the velvet roof, captivating Ranma until the picture snapped on. It was an image of Shampoo. _Running. Behind them?_ Ranma stared, then twisted around to look out the rear tinted window. Sure enough, the purple haired Amazon had given chase at her best speed.

"My, isn't she a tenacious one," Setsuna chuckled, watching the girl stay with them through the next turn.

"Shall I lose her on the express, Miss?" the chauffer asked calmly.

"I think it would be for the best," Setsuna nodded, looking at Ranma. "The Amazons tend to be poor losers after all."

Ranma couldn't help but to chuckle now as well. "You could say that."

The vehicle continued out of the suburb at an easy pace, while Shampoo trailed behind until the driver found his turn to the express way. Ranma sighed as he watched the girl lose ground for a few minutes, then hopped atop a truck passing by her in the same direction. It was a great idea until her newly acquired transportation took the next exit five minutes later. Without further midnight traffic to bridge the gap, both watched as the misrouted girl disappeared.

"I'm sure I mentioned to pack light," Setsuna broke the silence causing Ranma to turn and find her gesturing to his overstuffed backpack.

"Yeah, well, didn't know what to expect when we got there, so…"

"We'll be staying at the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park," She remarked casually. Her hands found a sleek, stylish violet purse and opened it, pulling out a brochure. "It should suffice until we find somewhere more permanent."

Ranma opened the glossy pamphlet and nearly choked. 'Extravagant' only began to describe the place he was looking at. "Um, I hate to say this, but…"

"I've already taken care of it," Setsuna waived away the teen's monetary concerns as if they were completely inconsequential. "We'll budget for new clothing as well. Get whatever you need out of that, because it won't be coming with us."

Ranma frowned at the thought. The pack itself was a veteran of many of his travels. Sure, it was still quite expendable, but it felt almost criminal to toss it to the wayside as such. "I already got what I need."

"Good," She nodded. "I'll have the chauffer drop it back at my apartment."

"Fair enough, I guess," Ranma decided. Parting with the pack wasn't what he had set out to do, but if the woman was just going to replace everything once they got to London…

"These," She pulled another document from her purse and Ranma's eyes tracked two small, obnoxiously red booklets. "Are your passport. In it, it says you've been to China, India and Korea."

"But I _have_ been to those places," Ranma took the book, examining the various stamps posted to each page. A picture of him smiling in a dress shirt and tie stood out on the first page. A look at the other booklet revealed his female aspect with an equally cheesy smile. _When did she manage to get these? Even better, _how?

"Of course, but this creates an official paper trail." She elaborated patiently. "Arriving for international travel without the proper documentation would attract unwanted attention."

"Was wondering why you weren't just zapping us over to England," Ranma returned thoughtfully, pocketing the document.

"Very astute," Setsuna complimented, less surprised than before with how quickly the teen was able to assimilate complex topics. "Popping to and fro without rhyme or reason also tends to raise eyebrows, especially when it involves traveling thousands of miles in mere seconds."

"Kinda like some of the stuff that goes on back at the dojo," Ranma nodded, easily relating. "But people around there are used to it and the police are pretty hands off."

"I'd imagine so," The Princess of Pluto returned with a chuckle. "See no evil, hear no evil?"

"Pretty much."

"And since we're on the topic, how good is your English?" Setsuna returned to business, but the friendly smile remained.

"Decent," He replied vaguely. "better than Shampoo sounds speakin' Japanese."

The Guardian nodded. "One less worry then."

The light conversation ensured their thirty minute trip passed quickly and both bid their limo and Ranma's pack goodbye upon their arrival at Narita's terminal two for their flight. Check in consisted of being ushered off to a special line apart from the normal travelers. Without any baggage to speak of, they were ticketed and through security with minimal of hassle.

For Ranma who had never stepped foot in a proper airport, let alone aboard an airliner, the experience was an adventure in and of itself. Sure, nobody was screaming 'Die Ranma, Die," but it was a world never seen in person and he soaked in the detail eagerly as they passed by the various shops and lounges enroute to their gate. The Saotome was in the process of staring at one of the fancy Sushi restaurants when something tickled his senses. Ranma looked around and found…

…A girl.

_Shit_, he grumbled and turned his full attention on the student he clearly recognized from Nabiki's circle of friends, if one were to use the term 'friends' generously. She was trying not to appear too overt in her spying, but once he turned toward her, the girl looked away, angling toward a payphone.

How the Tendo had even divined that there was even the_ possibility_ that he would eventually arrive at the airport was beyond him, but the depth of her activities just to keep track of him spoke volumes. _Scary_ volumes.

"Problem?" The emerald haired guardian stopped beside him, noticing his attention directed at the girl across the breezeway.

"One of Nabiki's," Ranma commented derisively. "She couldn't have followed us, which means…"

"…She was instructed to wait here," Setsuna finished, drawing on the most logical conclusion available. On one hand, Ranma's Nabiki was impressive, having actually devised a contingency that would track him in the unlikely event that he fled to an airport. _On the other hand..._

"Piece of work, that child," She sniffed with an edge of contempt. "Follow me, please."

Ranma watched as Setsuna took the lead and shrugged, following her across the breezeway and over to the girl whose back was facing them while she dialed on the payphone. The Mistress of Time walked up behind her and pushed a single, seemingly delicate finger into the rocker, disconnecting the call that had only begun to ring.

The girl turned around, finding Setsuna's red eyes first, then Ranma's blue. It took a moment for her to comprehend the situation and when her mouth finally caught up to her brain, she only managed a single syllable before being interrupted.

"I—"

"Yes, _you_," Setsuna agreed haughtily, her gaze holding the girl with unflinching superiority. "How much does the Tendo pay you for such menial work?"

"She, um…Twenty five thousand," The girl lied, purposely inflating the number as her brain scrambled for a way to extricate herself from the situation.

"Seriously?" The emerald haired woman laughed, turning back to Ranma. "You're right, Ranma-kun. Tendo_ is_ cheap."

"Been saying that for the last two years_._" Ranma shrugged without care, falling in line with the act.

"You… I…" Again, she barely managed to start the sentence before being cut off.

"Yes, _you_ again," Setsuna continued in her similarly arrogant manner. "Personally, _I_ would not consider such a pittance fitting compensation for being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night to stalk a world class martial artist. In fact…" She tugged at her purse, pulling out a small pocket book and sheets of yen from within. "I would say your time would be worth… _double_ that?"

The girl was blinking rapidly now at the turn of events and even Ranma couldn't help but to stare.

"Double…?"

"Perhaps you're right," Setsuna frowned to herself as if thinking the matter over, then added another sheet to the fan of cash. "I would be a tad grumpy for being kept awake at this ungodly hour as well. Let's round it up to sixty thousand."

"Okay?" The stupefied girl reached for the funds in an almost mechanically manner. She pulled on the light tan sheets, only to find them rooted in place. She stared at the woman almost pitifully as a second tug at the cash failed as well.

"Of course, this never happened." The guardian smiled sweetly. The girl nodded. "And you never saw us." The girl nodded again. "And I should _hate _to think what would happen if you did." Setsuna cast a lazy glance off to Ranma, who bore a steely blue gaze into the girl. She nodded with slightly more enthusiasm.

"Good!" The guardian of time effused, pushing the money forward. This time the girl hesitated for the merest moment before snatching the yen from Pluto's grasp. "Now be on your way."

The anonymous girl glanced at the cash in hand once more, as if to verify it was in fact real before turning on a heel. Just as she was about to dismiss herself, she looked back at Ranma with an almost confused, apologetic look on her face.

"Um… Ah…" She stumbled clearly ill-equipped for the situation at hand. "Uh, good luck with you new fiancée, Saotome!"

She turned and fled, leaving Ranma to eat the carpet of Narita's terminal two.

* * *

"**C**an't sleep?"

Ranma turned over in the plush recliner to face his Emerald haired counterpart, who was reading through a smallish pink paperback book. Setsuna was leaning back in her own chair, blanket over her legs with a reading light illuminating her area. Aside from the rumble of the aircraft around them, they were effectively alone in their own cabin aboard a Boeing 747 cruising somewhere over South Korea.

The martial artist propped himself up, considering the question. "It's the plane… first time and all that. Usually I'd work it off with a kata, but…"

His gesture to the cabin around them said all that needed to be said. Sure, it was the most expensive seat on the plane, partitioned off from the rest of the passengers and equipped state of the art audio, video, a small library of literature and, of course, an on-call attendant ready to service their every need. Even considering all that, there was only so much you could fit into a plane and as luxurious as the compartment was, it was hardly a dojo and he didn't like the thought of scaring anybody, _especially_ thirty thousand feet up.

"Guess I should be asking you what we should be expectin' in England," He shrugged, and Setsuna put her book down.

"A pertinent question," She nodded with a mysterious smile. "One I cannot fully answer. The time gates had nearly finished mapping the previous timeline when you altered things in the past, forcing a restart of the entire process." Ranma stared with an uncomprehending look and the Guardian elaborated patiently. "Meaning that while I know England is a critical nexus of activity for the near future, I'm only getting bits and pieces at the moment. The longer the gates chew on the issue, the more info we'll have."

"What sort of bits and pieces?" Ranma leaned over the cushy arm rest, interested in just what he was about to potentially step into.

"Magical activity has spiked in the area," She continued. "I'm still fleshing out just who we have to work with in the area, but wizards, demons and vampires don't look out of the question at this point."

"All because I went back to the past?" He frowned, not realizing just how far his own actions had resonated through time. "Heck, I didn't even get a clean shot off at that woman and things are still messed up."

"Beryl wasn't the decisive factor in this, Ranma-kun," The Mistress of Time continued softly. "Beryl was effectively removed from the equation in both of our timeframes. The only major difference between the two was that there was somebody in _this_ timeframe that delayed the youma long enough for over four hundred and seventy eight people to be moved to safety.

Ranma cocked his head, clearly intrigued now. "Yeah? And who was that?"

Her smile reappeared. Some considered such naivety a curse. After shepherding Usagi Tsukino to her destiny, Setsuna Meiou could only see it as a gift; one that Ranma possessed in spite of the incessant attempts to mold him into either a weapon or breeding stock.

"_You_, Guardian Saotome."

"Me?" The martial artist blinked. "Nah. All I did was uphold the code. Same as those other poor shmucks."

"And in the process bought the time necessary for those refugees to escape," He was about to protest, but she held up a silent finger, bringing his objections to a gentle halt. "No. _You._ The only difference between my history and yours is how Beryl died. Here she died instantly. In mine, she lingered for several millennia before the Princess finished her. Beryl died, the Queen died, and so did all those people… And now they're alive. Not only did they live, but their descendants are thriving by all accounts."

"Go figure," Ranma shrugged, as if the fact that an entire populace springing as a results of his actions was merely interesting. "And speakin' of that, what's a guardian anyway?"

"A Guardian of the Realm," Setsuna began, closing her book entirely to focus on the telling, "Is the Queen's hand. They are not simply the military or armed forces, they were protectors of all that was just and right about the Silver Millennium, answerable only to the Serenity herself." Ranma stared at the woman with an edge of disbelief. "Not only were they protectors, but judge, jury and executioners if need be."

"That's… a lot of authority…" Ranma murmured, somewhat in awe that somebody had seen fit to trust him with such broad reaching power. Trust wasn't exactly something many people invested in him to date.

"Necessary authority," She elaborated. "The Silver Millennium controlled a vast amount of space and Guardians couldn't simply wait for the Queen's approval to defend a world or exact justice upon an enemy."

"I, um… I mean… _Wow_," Ranma blinked at the scope of his new title. "She couldn't have been serious about that… It's just…"

"My sister does not give Guardianships out on a whim, Ranma-kun," Setsuna shook her head. "If the Silver Millennium would have survived, you would more than likely been awarded a duchy and annual allowance at the Crown's expense."

"What the hell is a duchy?" Ranma asked as the explanation spiraled well beyond his experience.

"In your case, a small moon more than likely," Setsuna commented off hand, causing Ranma to nearly choke. "Given the fact that my sister also saw you as an emissary to the Starlights, Serenity would probably name you a prince- or in your case back then –_princess_ to strengthen ties between the empires."

"But…" The martial artists brain was verging on meltdown now as it wrestled with the concepts of being awarded a small moon and a promotion to royalty. "That's… But I'm not a prince! Or even a princess, for that matter! I don't even know what a Starlight is!"

Setsuna blinked, then smiled, mischief glittering in her crimson eyes. Ranma frowned, knowing he wasn't going to like this one bit.

* * *

**A**ll the text books she had ever seen of England illustrated London to be an odd fusion of medieval Europe and modern suburbia; Ancient clock towers and bridges interspersed between palaces and office building. All in all, Ranma decided the bustling metropolis was a place Kuno would be right at home in, if only to fuel his swords and sorcery fantasies. Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts simply found it wet, courtesy of the overcast sky and incessant rain falling from it. Normally, the change from male to female was an annoyance at best. Now it wasn't simply an annoyance... It was an annoyance accompanied by a single word.

_Starlights._

The Novis Lumina. An entire race of people with the ability to change genders at will. And not simply change… It was a part of their daily lives, according to Setsuna. To change with the mood, the situation or- Ranma shivered slightly at the thought –just for fun. _An entire race of people… like me? _She shook her head, boggling with the thought. _Not exactly like me_, she amended, still considering the implications. _They_ could change at will. She needed water to do the job. The martial artist suddenly snickered from her side of Setsuna's new limo, causing the woman to turn her attention from the London streets just beyond to the red head.

"Find something amusing?"

"Kinda," Ranma grinned slightly with a last chuckle. "Just imagining what you said about the Starlights and what Akane would say about them…"

Setsuna studied the girl curiously. "Oh?"

Ranma cracked a somewhat sarcastic smile now. "Yeah, she'd go nuts. An entire planet of _perverts_."

"Now is that what she would say?" The Emerald haired woman's expression turned bland. "Though that would seem to fall in line with my initial impressions of the girl. While they tended to be hedonistic for obvious reasons, I would hardly call them perverts. In fact, they were fairly well regarded among the other space fairing races."

"They… were?" Ranma could scarcely believe her own ears. Her curse, the bane of her existence at times… was _popular?_ "And nobody looked at them funny?"

"Oh sure, they'd get some odd looks occasionally," Setsuna waved the girls concern aside. "But by and large, other races found the ability to be quite novel. Minako always found Starlights supremely convenient at parties, if my recollections are accurate."

"Minako?"

"Sailor Venus," Setsuna supplied, enjoying watching the girl's cheek twitch.

"Ah, right. Figures." She returned with uncharacteristic tact, not willing to insult the guardian she had fought beside with an ill placed comment. Instead, Ranma decided a tactical change in subject was in order. "So what happened to 'em all?"

"No idea," Setsuna leaned back in her seat. "Beryl's attack was a multi-pronged assault, sacrificing several worlds in neighboring star systems to fuel her demonic campaign. Even if there was anything left of the Novis Lumina by the time the Silver Millennium fell, there wasn't much left back _here_ to receive it."

"Well, shit," Ranma cursed, once again revisiting the vision of impaling a certain megalomaniacal witch with a tornado made of frost.

"Something I've said on many, _many_ occasions," The Guardian of Time shook her head with recollection. "Too bad, too. That home world of theirs was a work of art."

"It was?" Ranma leaned forward, finding herself unexpectedly interested in the race that so closely mirrored her own condition so.

"Indeed," The red eyed woman nodded, immersed in memory. "It was an organic Coronade if you can believe it. I believe they call them 'Dyson Rings' these days."

"What's—"

"Think of how the Earth travels around the sun," Setsuna illustrated patiently, recognizing the girl's knowledge gap. "Now make that path a solid ring… All the advantages of a planet but spanning a truly massive surface area; literally the entirety of Earth's orbit. Instead of using artificial materials, however, they grew the entire thing like a plant."

"A plant?" Ranma asked, somewhat skeptically, not even pretending to understand exactly what would go into the creation of such a feat. Setsuna nodded. "In space?"

She nodded again. "Like I said, a work of art."

Ranma opened her mouth, ready to cite how unbelievable it all was, then closed it with a dry look. "Hangin' around you can't be good for my sanity, you know."

"I'm fairly certain your life was already on that road before meeting me."

Ranma blinked, then chuckled softly. "Point taken."

Setsuna returned the smile politely and turned back to the passing traffic beyond the limo. Oddly enough, it was a smile that was reflected within as well, she realized, looking back upon their casual banter. Her duties through the millennia had been a decidedly lonely affair, and while she had taken lovers- _many_ lovers –in the interim, none of them could relate to her experience. _Seventeen millennia young female seeks ideal soul mate, must have experience in time travel, galactic empires and dance_, the guardian snorted to herself with an edge of regret.

And strangely enough, she had more in common with this seventeen year old sitting next to her than half the men and women she had bedded over the many years. _Which is pretty convenient, since he's both_, part of her psyche quipped with wry amusement. It also made his- currently her –fascination with the Starlights quite understandable.... An entire race with her condition not simply living their lives, but _enjoying _them.

It was nice, she decided. Nice to relive the good memories instead of the bad for a change, and nice to have somebody around that could a least relate to them in some small degree. Ranma had probably seen more of her life and times than anybody else in over fifteen thousand years, and that was including her own reincarnated Senshi. _Even Usagi herself barely remembered the Fall_, she mused soberly. _Give the girl another decade or so and she might have something better than swiss cheese for her previous incarnation's memories, but…_

"Whoa." The single word broke Setsuna from her thoughts and she found Ranma plastered against the opposite window, staring at the building they were pulling up to.

"The Mandarin, Ladies," The chauffer supplied deferentially as he angled the limousine through the parkway and up to the lobby of the grand structure, pulling to a smooth stop. Ranma completely missed the gender reference she normally might have balked at in favor of staring. Sure, the bellhops in the tacky red uniforms were humorous, but never in her life had she considered staying in such grandeur. The place was a goddamn castle sandwiched across several city blocks, she noted, and she stepped out of the open limo door with more than a slight edge of awe.

Setsuna walked around the back of the vehicle with a bemused expression. "Stop gawking, Ranma-kun. The Queen would have given you a bigger one." The comment produced another twitch and she turned back to the driver, switching to English. "Please remain on call as we will be in dire need of replenishing our wardrobe once we freshen up."

"Of course, Madam," The chauffeur bowed, closing the doors behind them. The emerald haired woman led the way, forcing Ranma to trail behind her. The martial artists head was on a swivel now as she took in the opulent luxury of their future accommodations. One of the bellhops opened the heavy oak doors and both women walked, Setsuna leading Ranma straight to the front desk.

"Miss Meiou, Miss Saotome, so good to meet you in person," The polite brunette smiled from behind the check in counter and Ranma's ears twanged with the sharp edge of her British accent. "I do have two Royal suites at your disposal for the duration of your stay. If I may, will we be expecting your brother in the near future, Miss Saotome?"

"Eh, yeah," Ranma recovered from the mental stumble, speaking in English now herself and still somewhat surprised at how familiar this woman was with them. "He should be along shortly."

"Very well then," She smiled warmly. "I'll just need both of your passports and I'll have you personal butler show you your rooms and amenities."

Setsuna already had her out, sliding the requisite document across the counter while Ranma fumbled for hers, eventually doing likewise. The receptionist key'd the first passport into the terminal, then continued on to the second, but stopped with an apologetic look. "It would seem that you've acquired your brother's passport by mistake, Miss Saotome."

Ranma froze for a moment, then dug out the second passport. She handed it to the taller receptionist with a syrupy smile, taking the other one back. "I was holding on to it for him."

"Of course," She smiled politely, opening the second passport. "I've already taken the liberty of adding his information, though he might not want to run around London proper without it."

"Heh," The redhead chuckled weakly. "I'll give it to him the moment I see him."

"Right then," The woman nodded, swiping three keys through a reader on the desk. "One for you Miss Meiou and two for your associate." Her already pleasant smile brightened. "Enjoy your stay in London. Edward will show you to your rooms."

Both women turned to their right to find an aging, sixty-ish white bearded man adjusting his round spectacles. His black and white uniform was immaculate and he bowed deeply to the women. "Konnichi wa, hajimemashite Saotome-dono, Meiou-dono. Please allow me to show you to your rooms."

The butler turned smartly, leading the way as Setsuna stood to the side, ushering Ranma forth. "Ladies first."

Ranma rolled her eyes but took the lead anyway. "Smart ass."

Five minutes later, Ranma Saotome one again found herself at a loss for words as their personal butler showed them their rooms. First, having a personal butler was just wrong according to the martial artist's world view, but not jaw dropping wrong. She had always been a hands on, do it yourself type; a work ethic ruthlessly programmed into _him_ since childhood. All things considered, she could ignore a butler. What she wouldn't be ignoring was the dojo sized living room that composed her suite. Nor would she be ignoring the crystal lamps, expensive dark oak furniture and huge padded couches. The view would likewise be tough to ignore, overlooking half of the overcast blanketed city from her new vantage point. She had seen luxury before, but normally never had time to partake in it and usually under some sort of martial arts duress in the process. This place…

…Her accommodations weren't just rich, they were _stupid_ rich.

"A fresh change of clothes has been provided courtesy of the Mandarin, Madam Saotome," The butler stated, lingering behind as she poked her head into the bathroom. Inside she found granite wrapped tub with brass fixtures that wasn't a furo, but then again, it didn't need to be; its mass alone promised to swallow her whole. Beside it was a free standing shower with five massage heads separated from the remainder of the space by a simple sheet of glass.

"Should you need my further services," The butler interrupted her mounting incredulity, allowing her to extricate herself from the bathroom before it swallowed her whole. "Simply lift the receiver. No request is too outlandish."

"Um, yeah," Ranma nodded with more confidence than she felt at the moment. It didn't help she was fighting to keep her words from coming out in Japanese. "Sure thing."

With that, the butler was gone, leaving Ranma all alone in the in the luxurious suite that, in her opinion, was many times too large for her needs. _Could move the furniture around for katas_, she mused, eyeing the space critically but dismissing the thought as quickly as it had manifest. _Last thing I need to do is piss off the nice old man…_

She shrugged, discarding the idea and moving on to the first and foremost priority on her list, a bath. She looked back into the enormous bathroom and sighed, resigning herself to a fate of luxurious bathing.

* * *

**W**hite light punched through a void of blackness, allowing the Mistress of Time to step from Earth and out into the Time Gates plane, four billion miles from her point of origin in under a second. The Princess cleared the blinding white rectangle of inter-dimensional fold travel and it collapsed; first in width, then in length before disappearing entirely. The Time Gates AI materialized next to the woman as she walked toward the gate, adjusting her pastel blue silk robe as she did so. The fact that it wrapped around her every curve was wasted on her present audience, who launched into her own report with her Mistress' arrival.

"Status?"

"Temporal mapping of the new timeline is proceeding nominally, concentrating on key events per your instructions," The child avatar detailed, prompting said timeline to appear in the air above them in holographic form. "I have compiled a visual log for your reference, though it should be noted that such spot checking renders the information marginal at best. A full mapping of the new timeline is highly recommended at this point."

Several blue squares popped into existence along the timeline with the explanation, causing Setsuna to eye them critically. "No time. Hitsuzen waits for no woman and it's not as if I can stay a-temporal indefinitely." She thought on the matter, staring at the gates looming overhead before coming to a decision. "Obviously I haven't come to my own aid yet, so it looks like we're on our own. Gate, did you nail down the refugee's initial landing site?"

"Affirmative," The silver haired girl nodded, and a map of Great Britain materialized in the space above the Guardian. A small dot blinked along the western coast of Scotland. "The site is exactly as specified by the Mercury archives; a zone ninety degrees out of phase from the local reality and thus rendered undetectable by normal means. Temporal mapping also indicates considerable expansion into the surrounding area and even London itself, though a school appears to have been built upon the original site."

"A school," The guardian paused, thinking upon the matter. "How quaint... What do we have for entry?"

"Only one specific method has been located," The AI elaborated, zooming in on Great Britain's capitol. A single blue dots sprang to life along it's wire frame streets. "A railway allowing for direct transit to the refugee site. Other methods presumably exist, such as direct site to site teleportation."

"Which would be a rude surprise were we to simply appear amongst them, and that's assuming the place isn't heavily warded," Setsuna shook her head, more to herself than to the AI. "I'll need to sort through contacts. Upload the relevant details onto the staff. Any information on this timeline's threats?"

"Critical events are still being mapped out," The child spot calmly, motioning to the holographic timeline appearing over head. "Vampiritic activity has spiked over the last two years, coinciding with the manifestation of negative energy wraiths. Despite being crushed in--"

"Wait," Setsuna frowned, realizing a key piece of information. "We have _Dementor_ activity?"

"Affirmative," The Serenity avatar confirmed. The map of London pulsated with half a dozen red dots now. "The manifestations appear to be sporadic at the moment, but are steadily increasing."

"Shit." The guardian mumbled watching the red dots pulsate. Vampires were nasty, but had critical weaknesses to be exploited. Dementors... _They_ would require _special_ hardware to deal with. Her Key was one such piece of hardware, but she couldn't be everywhere at once. _Another reason to pay the refugees a visit_, she decided. "Then how about the Nazis?"

"The timeline indicates that they have been gathering in strength since their defeat in world war two..." The AI reported. "Analysis also indicates some correlation between the vampire activities and the Nazi buildup, but I have yet to uncover any critical link through our temporal spot check."

"Right," The Mistress of Time nodded to herself, sorting through the seemingly divergent fact. In her timeline, Hitler had pushed his own super natural agenda even in the last days of the Third Reich, but little had come of it. And once the outcome of the war had become a foregone conclusion, she had stepped in personally to keep it from dragging out with a dead scream. _Of course, I wasn't here_, She noted quietly. But was her own absences enough to alter the timeline this much? Or was there some other catalyst triggering this particular rise of events? "What about the Dementors?"

"They appear to be related to the refugees."

"Then we continue to concentrate on the refugees," She decided after the limited information and her resources to acquire it had been weighed. "We need allies in this timeframe and the appearance of Dementors are a _bad_ sign. We'll take the Vampires and Nazis as they come."

"Confirmed," The AI nodded. "I will continue to update the Key as information becomes available."

"Very well," She acknowledged. "Gate me back."

Black space was torn open quietly as the two-dimensional gate of white light opened behind her, allowing the guardian instant access to her Earth-side hotel room. Fifteen minutes later she was dressed, somewhat casually by her standards, in the hotel Mandarin provided clothing that fit her perfectly. While the neutral tan slacks and smooth, light green blouse weren't her normal taste, they'd do until she could acquire her own.

_Speaking of which_, Setsuna mused, fussing with her green mane one last time before turning to the room door. She grabbed her small buckled handbag from the end table along the way, exiting her accommodations and walking the short distance to Ranma's own. She rapped politely on the door and waited. No answer. A second attempt yielded the same result and she applied a more forceful hand to the task. _Surely he would have heard that… _She groused with irritation before her more paranoid nature took over. _Unless we've been compromised_. The guardian knocked harder, resolving to force entry unless her next effort—

_Click._

The door was pulled open even as she readied her knuckles for a final salvo, revealing… _Yum._ Warring between paranoia and relief, Setsuna's thought process defaulted to an entirely unexpected vector as a nearly naked, fully male Ranma Saotome appeared in the doorway wrapped in little more than a fuzzy white towel and water droplets. For that singular moment, her red eyes traced the contours of the muscle packed within every square inch of his lean frame.

Sure, she was a guardian of the realm and the Mistress of Time… But she was also _woman_. In short, Setsuna Meiou _liked _what she saw. _No, _she chided herself, shutting down the train of thought. _Mission first_. She pulled her eyes off the martial artist's water moistened skin, noting the scars as an afterthought. The fact that she was even prioritizing what would come first was a bit disconcerting, especially since it left the door open for what may come _later._

"Jeez, Meiou-san_," _the boy shook his head upon positively identifying the visitor. Red eyes snapped back up to his blue. "Just say somethin' next time. Was loungin' in that monster furo back there."

"Of course," the emerald haired woman nodded, silently thanking that her lapse had gone unnoticed and her reactions were quick enough to cover for them. "I was concerned that our location had been compromised." _And thank God for the truth... _"That aside, we have some shopping to do."

Ranma seemed to weigh the necessary evil for moment before shrugging, turning back into the apartment. Much as he'd like to protest, neither one of them had exactly brought anything with them and the polo/slacks combo provided by the hotel wouldn't last him very long. _Especially once the fightin' starts.._. He acknowledged, and resigned himself to his fate.

Setsuna watched the boy retreat from the doorway, allowing her a clear, unobstructed view of the martial artists body from his neck, all the way down to the small of his back, where the rest was hidden by the towel wrapped around his person. More scars were visible, several claw like scratches. Those, however, didn't even phase her; her eyes drinking in the buffet of toned skin and muscle. On any other day she would have considered a certain amount of debauchery concerning the young man. Sure he was about seventeen, but age wasn't exactly a hang up for her, nor had it been for the last ten thousand years. It also helped that that her new ally was built like a machine, which was sure to translate into... _other activities_. The guardian chewed on her lip, forcing herself back to business._ Mission. First._ She scolded her brain firmly and took the still open room door as an invitation to admit herself.

The pigtailed boy had transversed back to the bathroom, closing the door just enough to block her view further observations concerning his physique and causing her minor disappointment in the process. Still, it helped take her mind off the martial artist as she turned her attention to more mundane affairs, such as studying the décor of his room.

"Can't say I'm lookin' forward to this."

Setsuna arched an eyebrow, turning back to the nearly closed bathroom door. "And why is that?"

"Not so good at shopping," He commented back through the door, which he pushed back open seconds later. Ranma stepped into the living room wearing the hotel dress shirt and navy blue slacks. "'Course, that's probably because I'm always roped into it somehow."

_No, I don't see you as the shopping type either, Saotome_, Setsuna smiled inwardly. "While I certainly sympathize, I'm going to have to ask you to trigger the curse." Ranma's nonchalant expression quickly adopted a frown, so she elaborated. "You came in as a girl, and in case you have not yet noticed, the hotel staff is _very_ attentive."

Ranma was about to open his mouth in protest, but settled a put-out look, stepping back into the bathroom. The guardian heard a facet run less than fifteen seconds before a busty redhead stepped back out wearing the same clothes, spackled with water and a grumpy pout. "Happy?"

Setsuna almost let the grin break out onto her face. The pout did little to convey Ranma's irritation. In fact, it only made the girl look cuter than before, and she idly wondered if the redhead knew it. In either case, Ranma was still wearing the same slacks and shirt. The pants now looked slightly baggy, but curved around her hips enticingly, while the shirt... That particular garment now strained against her ample charms, and it was quite oblivious that the martial artist had opted not to wear the hotel supplied bra. While she was tempted to point the fact out, another part of her brain unbiddingly answered the Saotome's question for her.

Yes... that would do _just fine._

_Though you have to know by now what those will do to men_, she thought absently, attempting to push the errant psychological analysis aside. Combined with her innate, exotic beauty.... _Mission, mission, mission..._ Setsuna chanted, scrubbing the naughty thoughts from her brain. "Then let us depart. Our limo awaits down stairs and as grateful as I am for the hotel's consideration, I'll happy when I can get into something more practical."

"Wonder if they have my tangs...?" Ranma mused, following the Senshi out the door.

* * *

**A**s it turned out, Selfridges_ did_ have Ranma's tangs. Not only did they have his tangs, but they were by Ralph Lauren and priced at a two hundred and fifty percent markup beyond what he had bought his for. They were also embroidered and fairly embellished, normally featuring a dragon, phoenix, or the Chinese character depictions of fire. Between sticker shock and the aura of high fashion permeating the place, it was all Ranma could do not to fidget, let alone touch the clothing before him. In fact, the only thing that kept him from bolting outright was watching Setsuna walk right in like she owned the place. If she could do it, he sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to be intimidated by a fancy department store...

...Or the conveniently stationed attendants, eagerly waiting to address his every need.

Thus, it was with some trepidation that Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes school of Martial Arts assembled his wardrobe. The men's section was easy. A few button down shirts with somewhat solid color schemes, some t-shirts, boxers and he was set. In reality, all he had done was lift his fashion from the store mannequins. The women's section, however... Well, there wasn't any reason to go over there anyway, at least there wasn't until Setsuna finished her circuit and rendezvoused with the pig tailed boy.

"Aren't you going to get anything for your female aspect?"

Ranma looked up from the meager pile of assorted sweatpants and garments, casting a bland look back at his escort. "This _is_ for my girl type."

Setsuna Meiou arched skeptical eyebrow, studying the teen and his acquisitions. While she could almost understand his point of view, it didn't make it any less of a criminal offense to hide that female body under clothing that could be called unisex at best. Instead of the outright objection begging to spill from her lips, she sighed, choosing her next words carefully and for maximum effect. "For a Starlight, you have a surprisingly_ narrow_ definition of fashion."

"Huh?" Ranma's head jerked up, momentarily forgetting the racks of clothing he had been sifting through. From anybody else and at any other time, the remark would have met with a wall of indifference. Fashion was hardly a concern to the martial artist, doubly so when one led a life that would see said articles of clothing rendered into useless bits of fabric on a regular basis... Except for the fact that it was this particular woman saying it, and she had employed the race that had become such an intriguing topic for the teen.

"Life wasn't always convenient for them either," She absently picked through a rack of skirts conveniently beside her, playing their conversation off as if it were merely chit chat. "In some ways they had it worse than you."

"Oh yeah?" The pig tailed martial artist had ceased his activities entirely, focusing intently on the guardian as the topic that had intrigued him for the last few days came to the surface of their conversation.

"MMmhmm," Setsuna nodded, glancing at the boy before returning to her search through the rack. "Most couldn't control that aspect of their biology until after eighteen. Until then, they were pretty much at the whim of their mood and hormones." She paused to allow the statement to fully sink in before following up with her next salvo. "Of course, it doesn't take much imagination to realize some of the awkward situations they found themselves in."

"No it doesn't..." Ranma murmured thoughtfully, so low that most would have missed the response entirely. It was also the response the Mistress of Time had hoped to achieve. _It's not much_, she admitted silently, studying his reactions out of the corner of her eye as she plucked a random skirt from its hanger. _But if he's been through even half of what I suspect he's been through... That, and the less baggage he had to carry into this fight, the better._

"Anyway, no need to draw this out longer than necessary," She replaced the skirt. "Get whatever you want and let the attendant--"

"Um, yeah... About that..." Ranma drawled, looking from her to the clothing and back uncertainly. "Maybe you can... I mean...maybe... Since you actually knew a Starlight or two..."

Setsuna Meiou cocked her head as if trying to divine his request, though she knew exactly what he was asking. And it's probably like pulling teeth for him too. She kept her puzzled mask a moment longer before letting comprehension creep onto her face and shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"And I don't wanna be looking girlie," Ranma followed up quickly as the emerald haired woman made her way over to the Saotome's rack and inspected his initial selections.

"There's a difference between girlie," She picked up a black pair of trousers, putting it back aside. "And looking good. That's the constant we'll strive for regardless of which gender you wear."

_Wear?_ It was the first time Ranma had hear anybody refer to his curse as little more than clothing, which in it's own unlikely way made absolute sense to him. After all, he was still Ranma no matter what body he was in, something too many people in his life seemed to overlook. Looking good, however, was not a new concept, even if he did little to indulge in it except in times of necessity. If he was going to commit to the task in either form, he was going to get it done_ right _and thus followed Setsuna eagerly as she began to pick through his selections.

Fifteen minutes later, a female Ranma stepped out of the dressing in a neutral beige button down shirt and slacks, staring at herself in the mirror while Setsuna examined her counterpart from behind. Ranma herself didn't know what to think, staring at the image before her. The khaki wasn't exactly her favorite color, but... The redhead turned slightly taking herself in from another angle. "I'm not so sure..."

"I am," Setsuna nodded certainly, stepping around the martial artist while pulling at a shoulder seam to straighten the shirt. "Now watch..."

Setsuna stepped in front of the mirror and pulled at Ranma's collar, propping it up and buttoning up a single button to her neck. She stepped away, allowing Ranma access to her visage.

"See? Were i to splash you right now, you would easily pass as nothing more than a trendy guy." Ranma blinked, and it was obvious that redhead was visualizing her very words. The guardian gave her a moment then stepped back in front of her. The girl stared curiously as Setsuna smoothed back the collar and dropped two buttons, exposing more of Ranma's ample chest before taking one step back. She eyed the girl critically for a moment before stepping back in and pulling the shirt tails from the slacks, allowing them to hang free. Her last act before stepping aside for the final time was to pull the twine from Ranma's pigtail, allowing the crop of red hair to flow freely The emerald haired woman walked around her, smiling. "There. Instant femme fatale."

Ranma simply stared, barely aware of the self satisfied guardian off to her right. It was the exact same clothing, yet the end product was _completely_ different. She _could_ pass it off in either gender. Sure, the style was iffy and it tended to drift against her smaller form, but...

"...I swear it's her," A hissed whisper interrupted her thoughts and both women turned to the source, a circular clothes rack two aisles down. Couching behind its cover in a vein attempt to conceal himself. "No! Roger, how many red headed Japanese girls can there possibly be? ...With blue eyes?"

Setsuna's paranoia clicked and she shot the well dressed redhead a look, who gave her a slight nod in turn, lowering into a crouch. She took a flanking vector across the aisle while Setsuna took her own route, setting up for the cross fire. She seriously doubted it would be necessary to employ any serious firepower since the guy read as a normal bystander, but if she had a yen for every time she'd seen an innocent bystander turn into a life force devouring youma...

"No, no... Some green haired woman... A looker herself," Ranma crossed another aisle and gained a clear line of sight on her victim. he was twenty something with sandy blonde hair, dressed in a expensive tan sports jacket and hunching over a largish cell phone. "How the hell should I know? And bloody fine with her hair down, too. Yes... Yes..."

The red head in question now stood less than a meter behind the man who continued to fail epically at his covert surveillance activities; so much so that Ranma was beginning to get bored watching the man argue with his unseen associate. A quick glance across the aisle found Setsuna also beginning to emote similar skepticism. An agent of the forces of darkness this guy _wasn't_.

"Yes, well I've got the same bloody picture you do," The blond's voice began to take on an irritated tinge. "You'd have to be blind not--"

And suddenly, the phone was gone from his grasp and he whirled around with the offending act. Sure, the man hadn't seen the movement that had liberated the phone from his person, but that didn't lessen his ire one iota and he prepared to take such rudeness to task when--

"He'll call ya back, Roger." The blond blinked, finding his target suddenly in back of him and staring down at him malevolently. The redheaded beauty pulled the phone away from her face and tossed it off to the right, where it was caught by her partner who in turn disconnected the call. He looked at the pair, then back to the dressing area he'd been spying upon, then back, adopting a weak, guilty smile.

"I can explain this..."

"Sure you can," The teen returned mildly; too mildly by the man's estimation. She folded her arms, conveying unspoken menace in the process. "First ya explain on why yer pervin' at the women's dressing room. Better yet, explain just how you're knowing me?"

"Uh, um..." The man dissembled, glancing around at the staring patrons who had heard the girls. "It's um... Complicated?"

"As I am sure the situation will become once we explain to the management that your questionable tendencies have cost them two very well paying clients," The second woman frowned. As if on cue, one of the store attendants walked over to them with an easy smile.

"Is there something I can be of assistance with? Mister Buckle? Miss Meiou? Miss Saotome?"

"Not sure..." Ranma glanced from the clerk, back to the man. "Is there... Buckle-_san_?"

Ranma's honorific for the newly identified man held enough edge to cause the blond to redouble his plastic smile. "Of course not. A simple misunderstanding."

Setsuna nodded pleasantly for the girl, who smiled and went about her way without a question and as if the disturbance never occurred. The guardian's red eyes fell back to the Buckle with a mischievous glint therein. "So... what is to keep us from coming to the most likely conclusion available to us?"

The man in question slumped, but reached into his jacket, proffering his card to the women. "Hopefully my position... Nori J Buckle, co-editor in chief of Flange Fashion."

Ranma snatched at the card and studied the embossed English. She could read it well enough, but there was little in the way of content for her, so she passed it on to Setsuna. The green haired woman glanced at it, calling up the relevant facts from memory. "Flange... cutting edge, high fashion magazine."

"The very same," Nori straightened up with the recognition, regaining a bit of his confidence. "Published in nineteen countries, with well over two million monthly readers worldwide."

The statistics didn't even faze Ranma, who instead eyed Setsuna. "You read this stuff?"

"Fashion tends to be a hobby of min as well," Setsuna shrugged. "Though it tells us little of your intentions, Mister Nori Buckle."

"Of course," He smiled genuinely, brushing his styled blond part from his eyes with more confidence now that he was back in his element. "I'd be more than happy to... If I may be so bold, over dinner?"

The stranger said the magic word, and the redhead took interest for the first time since their initial meeting. "You buying?"

* * *

**A**s it turned out, the stranger did buy, and less than fifteen minutes into the meal, Ranma wished he hadn't. The pigtailed girl was now a boy, wearing the same khaki outfit out the door of the department store and nestled in the reclining leather of Setsuna's limo with a dour expression across his face. The Mistress of Time watched as a streetlamp casted its light across him briefly before fading as the vehicle continued its progress back to the hotel.

_Very awkward_, Setsuna mused darkly, reflecting on the meal's topic and the newly acquainted Mister Buckle's foreknowledge of Ranma. Now, it was a pensive silence that filled the limo, and it was quite obvious that her partner had a lot on his mind... Such as what to do about the few thousand handkerchiefs in circulation prominently displaying his- rather _her_ -nude bust. _But you knew... _After the editor dropped that bombshell, it was nothing but small talk for Ranma, and Setsuna shouldered the majority of the conversation from that point forward. All things considered, Buckle got away off pretty light with Ranma's lose of appetite, especially after discovering the handkerchief was but the tip of the iceberg.  
_  
So who took those pictures...?_ She wondered idly, knowing that the question was as rhetorical as they came. Ranma didn't have that sort of confidence in his female aspect. While it was obvious he held a certain amout of pride in it, she was betting that didn't include posing nude for glamour shots to be distributed _internationally_. "Nabiki..."

Blue eyes flicked up with a grade of hostility she instinctively knew wasn't meant for her person, while simultaneously confirming her guess. Seeing a response beyond protective silence, the Mistress of Time decided to press for a more meaningful dialogue.

"So... For how long?"

Ranma considered the question for a moment, mentally debating just how much he wanted to open up to this new woman. After all, women in general had never exactly been the harbingers of good fortune before... Though maybe this one had earned at a chance, however, he mused silently. In the end, it came down a nonchalant shrug. "Damn near the day I set foot in Nerima."

"And you agreed to it?" Setsuna asked softly, avoiding anything that would even sound like an accusation.

"As if," The martial artist rolled his eyes. "Hell, half tonight is my fault for letting her pull this crap to begin with. I could get pissed at her, but then I'd get half a dozen fingers pointin' right back at me."

"Why then?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"Bunch of reasons I guess," Ranma elaborated, less reluctantly as Setsuna drew him out of his shell. "At first it was the fact that me and my old man were guests. She wasn't puttin' the money to upkeep, that's for damn sure, but I felt obligated. Not as if I could hold down a job between all the crap around there, either. That, and she always had an angle. Havin' to tip toe around Akane, Mister Tendo and my old man was a huge advantage and she knew it."

"So you went along with it," Setsuna forwarded the most obvious conclusion available. "Biding your time until your position firmed up?"

"Exactly," Ranma nodded, then sighed. "Except it never did. The fiancées kept arriving and rivals just kept coming, givin' her a nonstop supply of crap to use against me. Much as I hate to admit it, I'm kinda glad you came along when you did."

"Something big enough to allow you to justify blowing them off for the immediate future?" Ranma nodded. "So the fall of the Silver Millennium and upcoming potential for apocalypse is your idea of a vacation."

"Yeah, kinda... No, wait! That's not--" The pigtailed boy notice the impish smile on her face, and snorted lightly himself. "Funny woman."

"Glad somebody thinks so," She chuckled before moving on to the next topic. "What about Buckle's offer?"

Any trace of humor instantly evaporated from Ranma's face. "Now _that,_ you have to be kidding me."

"Why?"

Ranma held her with an incredulous look. "Gee, don't know... Maybe it has something to do with modeling women's clothing."

"True, but..." She cocked her head, as if to think, then shook her head. "No, best we keep a low profile."

The martial artist knew he should take his victory and ran, but he couldn't help himself and asked anyway. "'But' what?"

"I... its..." Those red eyes studied him for a moment, then nodded, as if coming to a decision. "I am a meddler by nature, Ranma-kun. It has been my hobby for the last fourteen thousand years in matters grand and mundane. My thoughts on the matter… I doubt you are ready to entertain."

The Guardian of Time had meant to convey information concerning her nature. After fourteen thousand years ensuring a earth's nominal survival, privacy meant very little to the woman. Setsuna Meiou stuck her nose in places it didn't belong through sheer habit alone now, and her words were to serve as a warning to the person across from her. To the Mistress of Time, it was simple… Ranma was afflicted with a curse, with no cure in sight and a severe case of gender dysphoria. Her natural inclination was to fix that potential weakness as she had so many of her allies before, a fix this new ally was almost certainly not ready for. Clothing was one thing. Psychological manipulation, however... Sadly, she didn't know the martial artist as well as she thought and the teen crooked an easy smile, rising to the perceived challenge.

"I'm all ears."

_So much for taking a hint_, She frowned mentally, keeping the emotion from reaching her face. Now she had two choices: Alienate him with silence or alienate his manhood. _Simply_ w_onderful._

"Perhaps our Mister Buckle's proposal isn't completely without merit," She threw caution to the wind and watched the humor drain from his face. What was left was an emotional void and… _Did the driver turn on the air conditioning?_

The remainder of the limo ride was spent in uncomfortable silence as the pigtailed boy steadily refused to make eye contact, opting instead to watch the blur of sights passing through the rain spackled night. _Damn,_ she fumed, replaying the events leading up to this. She had been doing so well too… _Oh well. I seriously doubt he'll hold me—_

"What'd ya have in mind?"

The words came from Ranma as they pulled up to the lobby of the Mandarin, and Setsuna looked at him curiously for a moment before conceding her mildly surprise. "I must sa,y I wasn't expecting you to open yourself to the possibility so soon…"

…_If at all,_ she added mentally and Ranma shrugged as if it were a minor point to acknowledge.

"You don't seem to be playin' games, which is a damn sight better than most of the people in my life," Ranma leaned back into his seat, his face not exactly happy, but somewhere closer to room temperature. "That, and ya got a little bit more invested than just yankin' my chain."

"Indeed," Setsuna nodded as her door was pulled open by the waiting chauffer. "Despite my… inclinations, I truly am attempting to be as transparent as possible concerning my motives."

The martial artist thumbed his own door handle, opting not to wait for the chauffer to cross to his side and stepping out into the light sprinkle of rain. Sprinkle was too generous a term, he decided, revising his description of the participation to that of the consistency of spittle; Just enough to annoy him, but not enough to tote an umbrella or even activate the curse.

"Fair enough, I guess," Ranma acknowledge easily as the emerald haired guardian joined his side, both entering through the double doors being held open for them by the hotel's attendants… _Still wearin' those fruity red uniforms_, Ranma chuckled internally, then turned back to business. "Still ain't guaranteeing I'll go along with whatever it is you got in mind, though."

"As you say, fair enough," The pair crossed the grand lobby to a waiting elevator, already called down by a bellhop for their convenience. Back at the curb their shopping continued to be unloaded with the promise to join them in their rooms shortly. "With what I know of you and that which you have confided in me, I think it presents us… _you_ with a unique opportunity."

"I get plenty of those as it is... Most of 'em bad," Ranma chuckled dryly as the elevator doors closed upon them. Setsuna touched the button labeled fourteen, setting it a-glow. "So what's so special about this one?"

"First, my motivations are hardly altruistic," Setsuna elaborated, taking the path of brutal honesty. "We are allies and I see these thorns in your side as potential weakness to be exploited and its something neither you or I can afford be distracted by at this juncture."

"By modeling," Ranma arched his eyebrow skeptically and Setsuna nodded.

"A means to an end," She corrected, the elevator wobbled ever so slightly as it approached the target floor. Doors slid open, admitting them into a well adorned hallway. "For several reasons actually; One part therapy one part liber-"

"I don't need therapy." Ranma scowled.

"You don't?" Setsuna asked rhetorically, pushing through the martial artist's bluster as if it were non-existent. "Anybody that can be blackmailed through their gender can be manipulated in other ways by a more capable adversary. I will be frank with you, Ranma-kun, I do not see your condition as curable and I have been around long enough to know. In fact, the only artifact I know of that would have a chance to do so doesn't exist here. Your aversion to your female aspect is a critical fault running through you mental state, one that will eventially comprimise other parts of your life and potentially our mission."

"I'm the best," Ranma rolled his eyes. "And I ain't gonna compromise anything."

"You do not know the opponents we potentially face," She explained, pulled her room's keycard from the hand bag in her possession and swiping it. The door clicked open and Ranma followed her in. "I have seen allies manipulated into dark acts by enemies that would ruthlessly exploit secret longings for friends and family via magical corruption; People that wouldn't otherwise hurt a fly, Ranma. Trust me when I say that it does not take much imagination to realize what some of my- _our_ -would-be adversaries could do with a gender insecurity such as your own."

"I'm--!"

"--Proving my point," She admonished gently and Ranma's mouth snapped shut, as if part of him was aware of just how pointedly his objections had been turned against him. The Saotome found a plush velvet chair in Setsuna's living room and plopped into it, his body happily molding itself to the cushioning after a long,_ long_ day. "In any case, the main purpose behind accepting the offer is to acclimate you to your condition and thereby remove a potential tool from the enemy's arsenal."

Ranma heated her with a leaded glare for a moment before relenting into strained calm. "And there ain't no other way to do that besides modeling?"

"Oh, there are a number of ways," The Mistress of Time remarked. "Thought this particular one ties up so many loose ends, and I'm quite a fan of efficiency."

"Sure ya are," Ranma deadpanned rhetorically. "And what are these 'loose ends'?"

"Among others," Setsuna continued, evidently oblivious to Ranma's dry tone. She found the bourbon on the center table and poured herself a small glass of the rich brown liquid before offering Ranma one. He declined, and she continued between sips. "This opportunity can also represent your independence, financially more than anything else. While I am not exactly sure what photos Buckle has of you, it would appear that he and his associates were rather… _impressed_."

_Of course they'd be impressed_, Ranma pinkened slightly. He could very well guess which photos they had seen… _handkerchiefs and otherwise_.

"Now granted, you could choose to continue live at the dojo if you desired, but that's the entire point… You will have a choice not to be bound financially to their whims. Second and less obvious," She sipped her bourbon with an amused countenance now. "Is that it breaks that particular monopoly Nabiki has by default."

Setsuna watched as Ranma's attention suddenly found a sharp focus. "It would?"

"Legitimate agencies and publications frown on that sort of sniping, and have a vested interest in protecting your personal image… Physical and otherwise." She outlined, setting the glass down and sitting on the edge of the grand oak table. "Any reputable agency would set the dogs out on a privateer selling candid photos of a model that has signed with them. Long story short, it puts you in nominal control of that aspect of your life. And then there are the fringe benefits, of course."

"Fringe benefits?" Ranma cocked his head. The martial artist was still wary of the whole enterprise, but sticking it to Nabiki was no small token in his book, either.

"Travel of course. Fame," She ticked off on her fingers, "A social life beyond the dojo. It's not the cure all to your problems, admittedly, but it _is_ something that I think you would benefit from."

The martial aritst bristled a bit with the comment but forced it down. His first reaction was to deny the fact and that he was fine, nor did he need a social life, but then, he wasn't exactly in a place called 'fine' back in Nerima. In fact, it was named 'suck' and for very good reason, though whether a social life was the cure to that was up for debate, in his opinion.

The Mistress of Time could almost see the gears grind as her partner considered the proposal, and she couldn't help but to be intrigued. The teen obviously had deep seated issues with his gender. On one hand there was the defensive streak concerning his manhood that ran a mile deep. On the other, he seemed to at least be able to stand his time in female form._ Let alone produce alluring pictures_, she added silently, wondering which way the divergent forces within would pull him. Would the deep seated masculinity overpower reason? _Best back off a little in either case, _she decided, framing her next thoughts. "In any case, it's certainly not a decision you need make tonight. I suspect we will become very busy in the weeks to come and that sort of visibility would only serve to alert your acquaintances of our location."

Blue eyes considered her seriously for a moment, coming to a shrug a moment later. "Whatever. No guarantees, though I gotta admit I've done the modeling thing for--"

The words were left hanging as a curious expression leaked into his facial features; as if the pig tailed teen had suddenly realized something. His head swiveled, attention abruptly focusing on the room's window and Setsuna came to the most obvious conclusion available.

"Threat?"

"Not sure," Ranma advised, stalking over to the window while the Senshi stood by warily. Something was bugging his ki, brushing up against his aura ever so slightly and it was outside the window. The martial artist attempted resolve the feeling for another moment before simply pulling the curtains open to the twelfth story view and throwing open the latch, opening the window. Setsuna watched as he leaned out into the night, then heard a disappointed groan. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"

The red eyed woman watched as Ranma pulled back, dragging... a girl? _A kunoichi_, she corrected herself, somewhat doubtingly as she watching the Saotome pull a soaked female ninja into their living room by the scruff of her collar; as if such occurrences happened every day. The ninja herself was clad in pastels: A faded pink shozoko that had obviously seen considerable use and wear. _Certainly attractive enough_, Setsuna decided as Ranma left the woman sitting to shiver in the middle of her room while he fetched a towel from the restroom. The Saotome returned moments later, tossing it to the frail looking creature with little fanfare. _One of the fiancées, maybe?  
_  
"Thank you mister Ranma!" She effused, wrapping the towel around her person as the martial artist stood aside with a put out look. "It was_ very_ cold out there!"

"Well that's what you get for spyin' on us," He retorted with little sympathy, and Setsuna couldn't help but to feel a bit left out now. The girl obviously wasn't a threat, judging by her partner's reaction and somehow she wasn't getting the fiancée vibe, either.

"Ranma," She inserted, studying the wet ninja. "Your friend...?"

"Ah, yeah... Say 'hi' to Konatsu," Ranma shook his head in a slightly disappointed manner. "And what the hell are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm so very sorry, mister Ranma," the kunoichi lowered her eyes guiltily. "Miss Ukyo asked me to keep an eye on you."

"But..." Setsuna stared at the girl curiously, shaking her head. "...I was all but certain we weren't followed."

"I saw your limo arrive at the dojo, Miss... Meiou, I believe?"

"Setsuna," She corrected, and the ninja nodded cheerfully.

"Miss Setsuna, then." The girl continued, pulling herself off the floor, but still wrapped in the towel for warmth. "I clung to the undercarriage of your vehicle until you arrived at the airport. After that, it was a simple matter to slip past security and stow away in your flight's baggage compartment." Konatsu paused with a pathetic frown that would fill anybody of lesser mental constitution with guilt. "It was _very _cold in there too."

The emerald haired woman blinked, her thoughts barely holding off disbelief. She turned to Ranma for confirmation. "And you didn't notice her, either?"

"Genius kunoichi," Ranma confirmed, shrugging as if the matter was no longer his concern. "One in a few hundred generations or something. Hate to admit it, but if anybody could..."

"Thank you, Mister Ranma!" Konatsu exclaimed cheerfully with the roundabout compliment.

"Yeah," The martial artist shook his head, attempting to head off her good mood with his own displeasure. "Still ain't happy about you bein' here. I know you're just keepin' tabs on me for Ucchan, but we're here on business. Savin' the world shit, understand?"

"Ranma..." Setsuna injected, her tone one part warning, two parts concern. The last thing they needed at the moment was for Ranma's entire entourage looking to play hero.

"I understand," The Kunoichi nodded solemnly. "Then if I may lend my assistance, the Mistress would be quite dismayed if I were to let anything happen to you."

"No," The Guardian of Pluto stepped in decisively this time. "We do not have time to---"

"This ain't a game, 'Natsu." Ranma held the kunoichi's gaze, completely overriding Setsuna's objections. "Not like Nerima. When it hits the fan it's gonna hit it _hard_. If you can't handle that, best ya forget all about this and head on out."

Konatsu stared back at the martial artist, clearly weighing his words and their intent. After a moment, the bubbly smile that she had worn on and off since their introduction faded into a determined countenance. "I am the last kunoichi of the Nokata-Ryu Clan. My blade is yours to command."

"Good enough," Ranma nodded, seriousness fading. "Look, you can--"

"Saotome, we need to _talk_," Setsuna stated softly, her tone boarding on a serious hiss. "She _cannot_ accompany us. You of all people have seen what we'll be potentially facing. We cannot afford to have a virtual unknown at our backs."

"Konatsu's not an unknown, Meiou-san." Ranma shook his head, failing to engage her seriousness himself. "You said it yourself, we need allies and Konatsu's damn near the only one back home that can fight me to a standstill, and I know for a fact I still haven't seen her go all out." She turned back to the ninja, who was smiling pleasantly now. "You good with vampires, sorcerers and magical bullshit?"

"Of course, mister Ranma," She nodded, then gained a far away look. "Though perhaps I should warn Mistress Ukyo..."

"Warn her?" Ranma perked up, feeling dread with the words. _Ukyo isn't here, so..._ "Why would ya do that?"

The kunoichi suddenly found other parts of the room to look at, avoiding his gaze. All in all, she looked guilty as hell; a fact confirmed by her next words. "Because I have already sent off a postcard advising her of your presence in London."

"Sonofa..."

Setsuna ground her teeth down in irritation, looking from the cursing of her fellow guardian to the girl. "Did you _advise_ her of our present location?"

"Um, no," Konatsu shook her head, adopting her pathetic, apologetic look once more. "I sent it off as soon as we landed."

"Regular mail?" The guardian pressed.

"It was all I had money for."

"That gives us some breathing room, at least." Setsuna frowned, taking in just how badly current events had turned before returning to Ranma. "Are you _sure_ about this? Her?"

"She gave me her word," Ranma nodded. "That's good enough for me."

"You're not the one I'm worried about," she added darkly, but relented. "What's done is done, I guess."  
_  
knock-knock_

A polite rap at their door gained the trio's attention, prompting Setsuna to cast a suspicious glance over at the kunoichi, who in turned shrugged ignorance. "Yes?"

"Edward, Miss Meiou," The muffled voice issued through the door. "We have retrieved yours and Miss Saotome's shopping. Would you like it brought in?"

Setsuna shot a look over to Ranma, who in turn tilted his head with indifference. "Gonna find out sooner or later, I guess."

"Yes, please," The guardian decided, agreeing with her counterpart. "Come in."

The door clicked open and several bellhops bearing packages filed in, followed shortly by the butler himself. His brethren found a clear space next to the sitting table to deposit their loads while Edward himself addressed the occupants, noting the new faces. "Ah, Mister Saotome, I presume?" Ranma nodded. "Very good. I've already taken the liberty of depositing your sister's shopping in your mutual room. Can we expect her later tonight?"

"She's ah..."

"...A party girl," Setsuna finished through his momentary lapse with an easy smile, resulting in an opposite expression from Ranma. "Perhaps she will be in, perhaps not."

"I see," The personal butler took the information in stride. "Then is there anything we can do for you... or your guest?"

Their guest was the quintessential ninja, dressed in pink and Setsuna wasn't sure how to explain her presence for the life of her. The fact couldn't have gone unnoticed by the butler, which would--

"Yeah, as a matter of fact," Ranma stepped in as the lesser bellhops completed their duties and exited the room silently. "Konatsu is gonna need a place to sleep in my room. Can we work somethin' out?"

"Of course, master Saotome," The butler nodded without questioning the request. "I can arrange to have a single moved in, if that will suffice? Otherwise, I will endeavor to open up another room...?"

"Nah, the bed will be fine," The martial artist decided. "Thanks, Edward-san!"

The aging man bowed deeply. "It is my pleasure, Master Saotome. By your leave?"

Ranma nodded and the butler departed, door clicking closed behind him. In his wake stood a disgruntled kunoichi. "Mister Ranma, I must protest! A bed is much too extravagant for a humble kunoichi such as myself."

"Stuff it, 'Natsu-chan," Ranma rolled his eyes, well familiar with the ninjas subservient antics. "You're gonna sleep in a bed and you're gonna like it."

"I..." Konatsu looked like a lost puppy, suddenly unsure of her fate. "...If I must."

_She can't be for real_, Setsuna checked herself mentally, staring at the pair as they bantered back and forth. _Somebody with enough skill for Ranma to respect, but completely passive in nature... _Setsuna shook her head but sniffed with amusement. "Work it out amongst yourselves... or are you planning to add another fiancée to your growing harem?"

Instead of the subtle needling she had expected to inflict upon Ranma, all she for her received for the effort was indifference from Ranma and a horrified look from ninja.

"Something you should know about Konatsu," He advised, looking over to the kunoichi, who gave her permission with a subtle nod. _"She's a guy."_

"She... that's..." Setsuna was left blinking, trying to rationalize how the feminine looking creature before her was, in fact, male. _She... he's good._ Damn good if Ranma was to be believed, and his smirk plus the kunoichi's lack of protest all but confirmed the fact. _I can give as good as get, however,_ she decided and fixed her own amused smile.

"Then it's a good thing you're a Starlight, hmmm?" She watched victoriously as the pigtailed boy's smirk suddenly failed, Konatsu turning to him curiously.

"Mister Ranma... What's a Starlight?"

* * *

**F**ifteen minutes later, and several conversational evasions later, Konatsu was marveling at his own single bed. Edward had done a fine job at rearranging the room, Ranma noted, rearranging the the twin to accommodate the extra bulk. In any other hotel, the new mass probably would have made for cramped living conditions within the bedroom... Within the Mandarin and the luxury suite housing them, however, it was still a stupid amount of room and promised to accommodate them with ease.

"So Miss Setsuna really isn't- _yawn_ -a fiancée?" Konatsu had since changed into a pastel blue silk robe- the one meant for Ranma's "sister" and was barely maintain consciousness; buried beneath the scrumptiously warm covers of his new bed.

"Not a chance," Ranma shook his head, buttoning the final eye of his own black silk pajamas. They were one of his selections from their shopping excursion, and damn fine ones at that, he decided. "Nothin' more than allies. She's the Princess of Pluto, if you can believe it."

"A Princess? How- _yawn_ -exotic..." Konatsu's eyes fluttered for a moment before settling closed. "Wish I were... a princess..."

"I'll bet you do." Ranma crooked a friendly smile at the transgendered kunoichi who was safely on the express train to a sound night's sleep. He was about to thumb the lights when a new thought struck him. _I don't got a clue what we're doing tomorrow. No schedule, no clue what to expect...._

The Saotome sighed and slipped out of the room, padding across the living room and to the door itself. _Could just call her I guess... Feels kinda stupid bein' right next door though._ Ranma exited the room and walked the meager distance across the hall to her room, pausing just before rapping his knuckles on the door. His aura strobbed out softly, finding the female presence beyond; awake and active. Knowing that his presence wouldn't be overly disruptive, he knocked softly. "Yo, Meiou-san... Quick question."

"Yes Ranma-kun?"

The door clicked open and Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts was nearly blinded. Setsuna Meiou was wearing the hotel's own fuzzy white robe, that while oversized, clung to her every generous curve. The deep V neck she had allowed the garment to sink into did little to help matters, and it was as if gravity itself was conspiring to keep his eyes from meeting hers. When they finally snapped to her red orbs, he was surprised to find an amused twinkle, not hostile irritation.

"See something you like, Ranma-kun?" She smirked herself, waiting for the teen to recover. Unlike herself, he wasn't managing nearly as well as she had during her visit to his room, but it was nice to know he approved.

"Uh, yes... I mean no! I mean...!"

_Approves a great deal_, She grinned mentally with the unintended compliment, but decided to let him off the hook regardless. "What can I do for you Ranma-kun?"

"It's... I..." He stumbled, desperate not to take a second look at anything below the neck. A lesser man would have failed miserably, but those lesser men hadn't Ranma's exposure to the feminine wiles of no less than three women throwing their collective bodies at him at any given time, nor were they female half the time. It took an unholy effort to keep his eyes from drifting back down, but two years of pavlovian induced pain at the mere trespass of even associating with another female other than Akane helped assist in the endeavor. "I mean... I'm wonderin' what's on tomorrow's schedule."

"A good question," The Mistress of Time nodded, brushing a lock of green hair from her face. It was all she could do not to adopt a purely unintentional and coincidentally provocative pose with which to tease the boy, and only a nagging conscious calling her to duty prevented such shenanigans from taking place. "Tomorrow is Diagon Alley. We will be meeting up with a contact in order to arrange a meeting with the descendants of the Moon survivors."

"About what time?" The business nature of their conversation helped Ranma focus, though it still took conscious effort. The woman before him was by no means a teenage fiancée and had the looks and body to prove it.

"Our window is one fifteen PM local time," She advised him. "I don't expect any problems, but I'm not operating with all the information I usually would, so it should go without saying..."

"...Keep an eye out, right," Ranma nodded. "Alright, thanks for the info. Night Meiou-san."

"And call me Setsuna," she smiled warmly, the slightest purr edging into her voice. "Good night, Ranma-kun."

With that, the door closed with a soft click, leaving on nearly sweating, pajama clad martial arts heir standing in the hallway.

* * *

"**A**nd here we are," The Guardian of Time stated as their limo slowed along Charing Cross road. Her companions looked out from the tinted windows, specifically looking for anything out of the ordinary or magical in nature. What they found as the chauffer opened their doors was a mom and pop book store and second hand music retailer, causing Ranma to frown. He had been expecting something a bit more...exotic.

"Is the person we're meeting in one of these stores, Miss Setsuna?" Konatsu scrutinized the storefronts curiously. Neither appeared very busy and there was a likewise minimal amount of foot traffic along their sidewalks. In fact, the only thing notable along the street was themselves and the longm attention getting limosine. Setsuna herself wore a casual, one piece dress-sleeveless petticaot combination that alternated between purple and fuche, while Ranma wore a pair of recently aquired tan cargo pants and a button up blain white shirt; left untucked upon Setsuna's advisement. Konatsu had been the most trouble to dress for wanting to cling to her old garments, but his objections quickly faded upon digging into the remainder of Ranma's wardrobe._ He_ wore lighter blue t-shirt that showed off the curvature of _his_ breasts and straight pants to exentuated _his_ figure.

All things considered, they were far more noticable than anything the trio had arrived for.

"We'll be here about an hour, Joesph," The Guardian nodded to the chauffer, who returned to the vehicle with the advisement. It pulled away silently, leaving the trio to stare at two distinctly plain looking establishments, separated by a plain red brick wall. Setsuna took a brief glance in both directions, scanning for witnesses before flexing her hand. The Garnet Rod flashed into existence with a soft pink flash, dropping into her grasp. The action prompted curiosity from both teens. "Credentials," She explained cryptically, pointing the heart tip of the stave in their direction. "Touch the garnet gem, please."

Ranma looked at the dull red orb at the center of the alloy heart and shrugged, poking the orb's cool surface. It glowed briefly then faded. The martial artist looked at his hand, expecting... Well, he didn't know what to expect, and it looked as if nothing whatsoever had occurred. Konatsu looked at his hand as well, tilting her head before touching the orb. The orb glowed once more, but otherwise produced no discernable reaction to his touch.

"Okay...?" Ranma waited, watching Setsuna expectantly. The woman favored both with a patient smile, nodding her head back to the store fronts.

The martial artist and kunoichi turned and blinked. Where a once solid brick wall front had filled the space between the two stores now stood... _A pub_. Ranma boggled, staring into the cramped establishment. "You gotta be kidding me."

"It is a compound spell," Setsuna elaborated, motioning to the watering hole that now stood before them. "One part illusionary glamour, one part to divert attention away from the patrons; functioning much like my armor's wards in that way."

"Oooh! 'The Leaky Cauldron'?" Konatsu gazed with wonder upon the new discovery. The venerable establishment bustled with activity and only now was it obvious that people were actively coming and going from the pub's blackened store front.

"Follow me," She motioned, stepping up to the door herself. "If anybody inquires, I am a Chrono Mage and you are both my apprentices. Under no circumstances are you to admit that you cannot use magic, otherwise known as a 'muggle'."

Ranma shrugged with the little idea as to what a chrono mage was while Konatsu nodded agreeably, following Setsuna into the bar. The trio was instantly engulfed in a carcinogenic haze of smoke, mingling tobaccos, herbs and food mix together into a barely tolerable atmosphere that tasted nearly as bad as it smelled. The guardian tipped her staff back over her shoulder and moved through the cramped quarters, arrogantly oblivious to the occasional stares they were drew. Ranma wore his own cloak of arrogance, though his projected closer to uncaring indifference than aloof superiority. Konatsu trailed behind without pretense, eagerly drinking in the sights as they continued through to the back, through a swinging door and out into a covered courtyard where they came to stop next to... Ranma frowned.

Another brick wall, this one accompanied by several ancient looking barrels and several deteriorating crates

"Like the last one?" The pigtailed boy asked, watching the emerald haired woman step up to the barrier.

"No," she corrected, silently counting up three bricks from the center, then over two. "This one is real, save the fact that is less a wall and more of a doorway keyed to a simple combination lock. Please stand back."

The pair of teens complied and Setsuna used the heart tip of her staff to tap the brick she had targeted once, twice, then a third time. Satisfied, she too stepped away from the wall and waited. She didn't have long, and the trio watched as the bricks twisted and slid aside one by one like tiled shutters, exposing a narrow hallway that opened into a blind corner and the noisy din of commotion beyond. The Guardian of Time nodded to herself and stepped through, motioning the boys to follow her. What Ranma found on the other side of the passage was completely unexpected.

"Whoa," The martial artist stopped dead in his tracks, marveling as the space opened up into an back street market place on par with any that he had seen, and he had seen a number of them growing up on the road. The open air corridor was clogged with people and carts, hawking their goods and services to both the interested and uninterested alike. "Now this, I wasn't expecting."

"Oh, such an exciting place!" Konatsu's eyes glittered as the kunoichi's head swung around on a permantent swivel to take it all in. "If only Miss Ukyo's travel allowance allowed for shopping..."

"Funds are not an issue," Setsuna remarked, taking her first steps into Diagon Alley proper. "The local currency is gold, specifically the Galleon. If I recall correctly, a major bank that will exchange yen is located nearby."

"Thank you, Miss Setsuna!"

The woman chuckled. "Don't thank me. This is coming out of Ranma-kun's pay."

The martial artist favored Setsuna with a dry look. "I'm getting paid?"

"Details, details," She retorted smugly. "Come, we have about a half an hour before our contact arrives."

Both teens followed the woman as she began to weave through the winding marketplace, dodging hawkers and their customers alike in the tight confines of the alleyway. For Ranma, it wasn't anything he hadn't seen before a dozen times in a dozen places throughout his travels. Animals, food, clothing, tools... Konatsu, however continued to gawk, bringing up the rear as the trio transversed the length of the street which finally opened up into larger crossing and a three story building of white leaning off to an angle. Above the entrance, the words 'Gringotts Bank' were engraved, leaving little doubt to the structure's purpose. The interior was completely at odds with the unkempt chaos of the street, and if either teens hadn't already seen the Mandarin, probably would have let out an appreciative whistle at the vaulted ceilings, intricate chandeliers and customers conducting their monetary business.

Setsuna targeted the nearest free teller set up behind an expensive brass lined granite counter, noting both boy's curious expressions as they closed on the station and preempting the inevitable question. "Goblins. Subterraining species loosely related to Gnomes, but with a grumpier disposition and affinity for all things gold." She paused in the explanation, taking her own measure of the pasty white, beady eyed creature awaiting his next customer. "Pretty much extinct in my timeline, I might add."

Any other teenage boy would have gawked at the sight of the needle toothed, pointy eared specimen in a offical banking regalia; a full suit, bow tie and a single monocle poised in its right eye. Those teenage boys, however weren't Konatsu and Ranma, both veterans of the strange an unusual in their own rights. As such, the only point of interest beyond the idle curiosity the creature represented was the business they were their to conduct, and Ranma mentally noted the creature look a lot like Happosai in some respects.

"Yeess?" the creature looked up from whatever work it was penning into a leaf of parchment with a feather quill, his gravelly tone clearly advising that the interruption was ill advised to waste his time as the Emerald haired woman stepped up to the counter.

"Money change," Setsuna stated in a equally business like tone. "Yen to Galleon."

The bleach skinned creature eyed his customer with the monocle eye and sniffed. "Account?"

Setsuna pulled a small business card from her purse and pushed it across the counter for the creatures long, spindly fingers to acquire. He studied it for a moment with a squint before turning his gaze back on the three. "Uhhhg... No account. Direct transfer fees _will_ apply."

Ranma arched an eyebrow at what sounded like a veiled threat, though Setsuna continued on as if it were all standard practice. "Of course. Twenty thousand should be sufficient."

"Hnnnn." Was the Goblin's only response was a disdainful look as it reacquired the business card with her Japanese bank account number and typed it into an old early eighteenth century looking type writer. No sooner had he keyed the account and routing information in then an equally antique stock ticker came to life, dutifully clacking out the requested data along a thin strip of paper, which was in turn snapped up and scrutinized by the temperamental humanoid. Squinting eyes traced the line of paper, then nodded with approval. "This is... _Acceptable. _One moment."

The squat humanoid hobbled off his seat, removing himself from sight before waddling to back room where a door was opened and closed.

"Such a disagreeable creature," Konatsu frowned, peering after the small humanoid and his exit. "Very unpleasant."

"Reminds me of Nabiki." Ranma nodded. "But uglier."

Setsuna simply waited patiently. It took nearly five minutes for the goblin to return, scaling his seat up to the trio's level and dropping a palm sized black bag onto the counter before them, then turned back to the typewriter.

"Twenty thousand Galleons from Yen, conversion rate 1165.33 to the galleon plus the standard direct transfer fee of fifteen percent. Total withdrawn, 13,401,295 yen." A sickly smile radiating avarice curled about his lip as he pushed the tied pouch across the counter. It was accompanied by a sheet of parchment and already inked quill. "The pouch of holding is complimentary. Please _sign_."

The Guardian of Time favored the shorter creature with her own arrogant frost, marking the paper with a simple 'X' before pushing it back. The Goblin studied what barely passed as a signature with the monacle eye and scowled, but failed to pursue the matter further. Instead, he simply turned back to the stack of paper he had been attending to before their arrival as if they were no longer worthy of his notice. Setsuna scooped the black velvet back into her hands and turned away, her charges following in tow. Once outside the bank and in the clear, she pulled open the drawstrings and started to dole out money to the pair. Ranma watched the gold clink into his hand with vague fascination, whereas Konatsu seemed utterly entranced by her golden coins. It was quite literally more money than she had ever seen in his _entire life_.

"Okay, we still have about ten minutes until we meet our contact." Setsuna closed the coin purse and let its meager weight drop into her own handbag. She turned to the street scanning for her target. "His name is Rubeus Hagrid and you won't be able to miss him, being nearly three meters tall. You two just nod, I'll do the talking. If he asks a question, let me answer and..."

Setsuna blinked, noting the complete and utter silence at her back. She turned about, only to find she had been talking to herself the entire time and no sign of the two martial artists. The Mistress of Time sighed.

"Wonderful. Simply wonderful."

* * *

_Ding!_

**B**art Gobbleman paused with the light sound of the door's bell, setting aside the straight blade of his stiletto and the accompanying whet stone to watch his newest potential customer enter. He smiled, turning back to the counter and hopefully a sale in the process. "Welcome to the Keenin' Edge! What can aye a get fer--"

The shop's purveyor's greeting died on his lips as his sight acquired his newest walk in, a girl in her teens wearing a tight shirt and tight bluejeans, her jet black hair tied back into a single pony tail and smile on her face. Bart arched an eyebrow at the improbable sight, but fixed his own smile. Clueless tourist were always welcome in his shop, after all; Especially ones as pretty as the lass wandering around the racks of weaponry. With any luck he could sell her one of the pricier wall hangers and send her about her way. Any more luck than that would require a bar and several drinks, maybe an enchantment of two. The store keep watched her eyes wander from the heavier iron to the lighter blades, where they lingered for a moment before turning to the daggers residing in the display case. His smile widened.

"What can I git fer ye, me beautiful oriental lass?"

Her head snapped up, as if she hadn't even realized he had been standing no less then four meters away from her. She blinked curiously then favored him with a dazzlingly cute smile. "Ohayou gozaimasu! Kyoo wa ii otenki desu ne?"

Bart blinked, his face enveloping in a quizzled expression. "Er, I didn'ta quite get that."

The girl's smile faded likewise, cocking her head curiously. It lasted for a moment before being replaced by one of inspiration. The bald owner watched as she placed her hands together- fist to palm -and closed her eyes to concentrate. Bart arched an eyebrow then watched as her hands began to glow. He shuffled back a step as her eyes suddenly opened with fierce determination.

"Kunoichi hahaku gikou!" The stranger shouted suddenly, a slight breeze wafting around her, and her fingers flashed through a number of signs. "Iti! Ni! San!_ Toransure-to!_"

The glow in her hands flared slightly, forcing the owner to turn away or risk the unnatural glare. It subsided as quickly as it was manifest, and Bart looked back to the smiling ninja with slightly annoyance. "Now look lass, ye be cute and all but ye be takin' yer magiks outside the premises', hear?"

"Oh, I am very, _very_ sorry Mister Shop keeper!" The girl gushed, instantly breaking the owners irritation through a combination of surprise English and pathetic cuteness. "I couldn't understand you properly so I just had to use a translation justu!"

_Justu?_ Bart Gobbleman's forehead wrinkled. _Never hear of no jutsu magic before_. He gave it another thought then shrugged. It was tough to stay mad at somebody as cute as the girl in front of him. "Ye be meanin no harm, missy, but some of the weapons here be magic sensitive, understand?"

"Definitely, kind Mister Arms man!" Konatsu nodded happily.

"Very well then!" The owner smiled himself at the girl's politeness. "What can I get for ye today?"

"A blade," The girl's eyes began to wander the weapons racks again. "Do you have carry wakizashi or kodachi?"

_Now_ she was speaking a language he recognized, but shook his head. "Bit far away from home, me lass. Perhaps a dagger for ye? A nice kriss, perchance?"

Gobbleman slid open the display case on his side and pulled out a waving blade, adorned with red crystals and silver plate; basically everything that would attract the eye of a tourist. The Asian girl looked at uncertainly, but took the proffered item anyway, testing its heft as the owner continued. "A fine silvered blade it be, favorite of wizards everywhere, donchaknow?"

Konatsu cocked her head and began to roll the blade through her seemingly delicate fingers, much to the alarm of the watching purveyor. "I don't think ye should be--"

The girl ignored him, spinning the blade expertly in one hand before tossing it across to the other in a blur, where it spun in an open palm before being tossed into the air, twirling. It was caught by the tip a moment later, balanced at point's end and hopped to each remaining finger one by one without breaking skin until it reached her thumb was caught again by the point. She smiled sweetly at the gaping owner, handing it back to him, leather wrapped handle first.

"It certainly is a pretty blade," Konatsu nodded amiably. "Decorative, but the balance is too far forward to actually fight with. Do you have anything that would be useful against, say... a vampire? Ghosts?" Bart blinked. "Maybe even werewolves, though mister Ranma didn't say anything about werewolves. But they would naturally be associated with Vampires, wouldn't you agree?"

The shop owner simply nodded dumbly, trying to gather his wits. The girl was skilled. _Damn skilled_, which meant that despite the cheery attitude, she was probably serious. It also meant that he wasn't about to try and liquor her up later. Hung over women with knives _never_ made for a pleasant wakeup call the next morning, in his experience.

"I... I think I might have something for ye," He decided, taking her seriously for the first time. "What's your budget if you don't mind me askin', Lass?"

Konatsu put a finger to her lip indecisively, then reached behind her back, pulling out a fist full of coins and dropping them on the counter. "Um, this much?"

Bart Gobbleman's cheek twitch visibly this time as the coins jingled onto the counter. He looked up at her, then back down to the coins and back up at the smiling girl. _She can't be for real._ "Eh.. Ye mentioned a wakizashi... Will a short sword do ya?"

"Oh definitely." She nodded cheerfully. "As long as it is light and can slay vampires and ghosts. Oh, and werewolves too."

"I think I may have somethin'. Wait here, girlie."

Konatsu nodded and the man was gone from the counter, digging though a pile of boxes and shuffling through several layers until he came upon a battered wooden one with a hinged lid. He blew the dust away with a huff and sat it gently down on the counter before the girl, unclasping the two latches. Opening it, the girl's eyes fell on pure silver steel with a flowing wave of symbols engraved up the spine.

"One of the few survivin' relics from end of the Third Age," Bart detailed, untying the leather that held it firmly ensconced within the box. He flicked the straps aside to pull the hour glass shaped blade away, allowing the girl to take its full measure. "She's Elven steel, said to have been present at the Fall of Mordor and the destruction of the one ring. Now whether ye take salt in that is another matter entirely, but it be a fine blade regardless, rated plus three and documented with the wizardry registry to prove it."

The black haired Asian girl took the sword by the intricately crafted steel and leather hilt, testing its balance first, then giving it a few good swings before sending it ablaze through several high speed arcs faster than the eye could follow. Bart stepped back once more as she put the blade through its paces. After another minute of blurring arcs, she bought the silver blade to halt, considering it with expert eyes but seemingly on the fence concerning its purchase. "Are you sure you don't have a wakizashi?"

"Eh... um..." Bart looked at her innocent expression, then the pile of galleons. _Shit, shit, shit!_ _Need to close the deal... think Gobbleman! What's cute girl like this lookin' for in a weapon like that?! _His expression lit up as sudden inspiration hit. "Did aye a-mention it glows the _prettiest _sky blue when in the presence of Orcs and other minor evil?"

Konatsu's expression lit up likewise, and she enthusiastically push the coins fully toward him.

"I'll take it!"

* * *

_Cherry.  
Toffee.  
Bacon.  
Cheese.  
Orange.  
Chocolate._

**R**anma Saotome popped another bean into his mouth, savoring the moment just before pure random bliss hit his taste buds, wallowing in the sensation as his tongue was bathed in the taste of mango. He didn't know the first thing about these people, but the martial artist had already decided that any society that could come up with a snack like this couldn't be all that bad. He dug his free hand back into the bag of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean as he took in the sights of the alley way, looking for other culinary victims. His first impression of the place had indeed been pretty close to correct... Diagon Alley was little more than a bazaar, catering to nearly every form of business one could find like any other back alley market place this side of the world. Where that impression erred, however, was in the details, specifically the goods and services being peddled. Ranma popped the next bean into his mouth and smiled. _Barbeque pork flavored._

One thing that had become crystal clear was the fact that Diagon was no ordinary market place. The clientele were obviously magic users on closer observation, and while most looked to be fairly normal, their clothing on average _wasn't_. They were clad in robes, pointy hats and other exotic garb that looked to have had a home in an eighteenth century history lesson. The goods they were partaking of were equally odd, ranging from supposedly magic brooms, magical tomes and exotic reagents of all sorts. Not that any of it came anywhere close to fazing him. Even before he had stepped foot in Nerima, his education had been rather worldly in nature and at almost seventeen years of age, the martial artist had seen and done the impossible. Ranma soaked it all in curiously, popping another bean and--

"ACK!"

The immediately crowd around him stopped and turned upon the gagging boy, who was fighting for a breath in the face of the most god-awful flavors he had ever tasted. He spit the half chewed bean out, and then all the remaining saliva tainted with its foul passing. The crowd of onlookers grimaced as the boy recovered his senses and noticed his audience. Ranma shook the after effects off and smiled apologetically for them. "Eh... Akane's cooking flavor..."

The crowd nodded sympathetically, most knowing the unpleasant experience of stumbling across their own putride tasting beans and went about their business while Ranma turned his search from good eats to a simple glass of water to wash down the vile flavor. His eyes founded the closest shop to him, the rounded entrance adorned with the name 'Ollivander's, and the pig tailed martial artist took one last look at the bean he had spit out, noting that it was smoldering on the alley's cobblestone before making for the shop at best possible speed. The light jingle of chimes signaled his entry and he stopped short, finding stacks upon stacks of worn, dusty shoe boxes, but no shop keeper in sight.

_Maybe they just use this place for storage_, Ranma thought with a frown. "Uh, anybody here? Just looking for--"

"A wand, of course!" An elderly man stepped out from the back, sighting his newest customer with an appraising eye. "Busy today, very busy, so let's get started."

"Er, I'm not sure..."

"Of course you are not, lad." The old man finished, walking up to him with a slight hobble in his step. Ranma could plainly see the intelligent spark in his eye in spite of the frail body. "That is my job. Your wand hand."

_My wand hand?_ Ranma blinked at him cluelessly, and Ollivander waited expectantly. "I'm...ah... Ambidextrous?"

"Ah, your left hand then." The aging shop keeper interpreted Ranma's response and pulled out a measuring tape, unfurling along the length of the martial artist's arm. "Arm length... Mmm, fifty nine centimeters." Ollviander stepped back, studying his new customer once more. "Asian, blue eyes... Most unusual. Japanese?"

Ranma simply nodded, unsure how to extricate himself from the old man's clutches at this point. He didn't want to be rude, but he didn't need to be sized for a new suit either. "Um, look Grandpa..."

"An interesting mix, I must admit... Intriguing," The old man adjusted his spectacles, circling Ranma slowly. "And your magic has a distinct taste of... _Transfiguration_. A specialty of yours perchance?"

"You could say that," Ranma adopted a dry expression, to which the shop owner paid no heed.

"Fascinating, fascinating," Ollivander nodded. "I believe I have just the wand, then!"

Ranma watched as the man was back among the stacks of shoe boxes with a vigor that belied his age. He shuffled several of them off to the side, before finding a particular box buried eight deep amongst a stack. He untied the box before Ranma, opening the lid carefully so that Ranma's eyes fell upon...

...A stick.

"Cherry wood, twelve and a half," Ollivander detailed proudly, through Ranma still had no idea of what he was detailing or even why for that matter. He was looking at a stick; a gnarled reddish brown stick._ And what that has to do with anything is beyond me_, the martial artist groused as the elder continued. "Phoenix feather core and... durable." Ranma looked at the stick, then to Ollivander warily. Something was telling him not to-- "Well go on, try it out."

The Saotome plucked the wand from the box gently, as if the stick were liable to explode in his very hand. In fact, it practically squirmed in his hand from his perspective. "I ain't sure this is such a good idea..."

"Hurry now, no dawdling. Give it a good flick." The elder stated imperviously, and Ranma shrugged, cocking his wrist for the aforementioned flick. Before he could execute, the wand was promptly snatched away, much to the pigtailed teen's annoyance. "No, perhaps not."

He replaced the wand and set it aside, turning back to the stacks from which it came. The searching began a new as he dove back into the stacks, finally pulling a shoe box out at seeming random. "Hungarian oak, ten even and cored with dragons scale... Slightly springy."

This particular wand's curves were more refined than the last, with a gold ring to bind the twine of its base. Ranma stared it it warily before the shop keeper pushed it upon him expectantly. Ranma took the wand in hand gingerly and stared at it, feeling none of the sensations from the last one. He glanced at the elder, who gave him a flicking motion. Ranma sighed and gave the wand a half hearted snap. Both watched for a few moments with little in the way of results. Ranma was about to hand it back when the wand started to eminate a dull glow, prompting Ollivander to tilt his head in curiosity.

"Very odd."

_Whole thing is odd all the way around,_ Ranma watched as the wand continued to brighten into a fierce orange. "Uh, old man...?"

"Yes, yes," he continued to stare, clearly absorbed in the event. "Very interesting!"

By the time he had finished his sentence, it was glowing like a light bulb filament, distorting the very air around it with waves of heat. The gold ring bound at the base had also began to glow and it wasn't another minute before sagged away, dropping molten onto the wooden floor with an angry hiss. The wand itself failed a second later, eating itself away into carbon and falling to the shop floor as ash. Both stared at the burn remains Ranma now held between his fingers.

"I... I see." Ollivander arched an eyebrow, studying the matchstick and the now cooled metal spatters at his feet. "Did you know gold melts at 1064 degrees Celsius?"

"Can't say that I did," Ranma deadpanned, letting the last of the wand fall to the ground.

"A most difficult conundrum you present me with, young man." The shop keeper shook his head, scratching the side of his fizzy white head of hair. "A challenge, indeed."

"Yeah, probably time to call it a day, right, Grandpa?"

"Nonsense!" The proprietor returned with renewed vigor, already shuffling stacks of boxes aside. "I know it's around here somewhere.... Ah!" The wand maker spun around with more agility than his frame seemed capable of, thrusting a new box in Ranma's direction. The top came off to reveal yet another innocent looking twig, this one sporting an number of fragile looking interlocking stalks. "Supple Crossvine! Thirteen and a quarter with Cat hair!"

Ranma's cheek twitched with the mention of felines, knowing no good could possibly come of handling the thing in the box. "Look, you really don't want me touchin' that."

"Cobbleposh, lad." Ollivander snorted, placing the wand in his hands directly. "Crossvine is one of the most stable bases for a wand. There's nothing to fret over. Give it wave. Nothing fancy."

_Fret_, Ranma sniffed mentally, and raised the stick chest high. _Another word for scared._ "Don't day I didn't warn ya."

Ranma flicked the wand easily and both waited expectantly for something to happen. Seconds passed and the wand declined to explode, glow white hot or produce any other discernable effect, whatsoever. The aged wizard stared at Ranma, then the wand and back to Ranma with a piercing gaze before taking the wand and placing it back into the box. He closed the lid and set it aside before commencing to pace. "Highly perplexing. Most unusual. Perhaps something in the spruce--"

The lid popped off the box he had just handled, and both teen and wizard found their attentions inexorably drawn to it. Ranma stepped back. Ollivander stood his ground, peering into the cardboard enclosure.

"Oh my." Peeking out of the box was a small green bulb, sprouting from a spindly leaved vine growing directly out of the wand itself. For Ranma, the problem wasn't the bulb itself, but the tiny teeth sprouting from the green sprout's lip. Ollivander began to chuckle, turning back to Ranma. "It would seem you have a green thumb, lad."

"You got no idea," the martial artist shook his head, taking another step back. Not that he could blame the proprietor's attempt at humor. He didn't _know_. he didn't know about the bean plant. Or Toma's giant, creeping vine. Or Pink and Link's own monstrous creation. They were all very bad precedents in Ranma's opinion, and this one was bound to be no exception. As if bidden by his very thoughts, the bulb opened up as if to loose a toothy yawn.

"Utterly fascinating," Ollivander shook his head, leaning in for a closer look. The yawn ceased abruptly and the tiny set of jaws made a snap for his nose. "Testy little--"

The wand maker never got a chance to finish. A single root-like vine slithered up and over the edge of the shoe box, and then another; both growing out from the wand itself, which had also sprouted its own white lily white flowers. His distraction was such that the wizard hadn't noticed the bulb's growth as well until another lunge almost latched onto his prominent nose once again. Ollivander jerked back, glaring at the creature as it continued to expand its root system from the very wand he had created.

"This won't do at all," He frowned, and Ranma watched as the old man pulled his own wand from his belt and took aim. "Petrus Arcanus!"

The stick produced a blue flash with his wave, sending out an anemic bolt that impacted upon the plant like a splash of water. The energy dispersed immediately along its length, leaving a trail of stone marble as it did so and turning the plant into a statuette within seconds. Ollivander was about to congratulate himself when the stone trembled, flaking away as the bulb and vines shook itself free with renewed growth. This time, the store owner opted to take a step back to join his former customer.

"Oh dear."

Ranma nodded, feeling the exact same way. "Told ya so."

* * *

"...**B**orn born December 6, 1928 of Fridwulfa and Samuel. Your half brother Gwarp is your only surviving family, though you have had numerous pets; Including a boarhound, Acromantula, Hippogriff, dragon and a Hellhound named... _Fluffy_."

Rubeus Hagrid stared down at the Emerald haired woman that had cornered him, thoroughly confused at the unlikely meeting that was now taking place just outside the reagent shop he had just been about to enter. In the end, he resolved the discrepancy with a simple shrug. "Most people would have yelled something like, 'Hey Hagrid!' to get my attention, y'know?"

"My apologies," The red eyed beauty smiled cordially. "How are you doing today, Mister Hagrid?"

The burley giant nodded, stroking his wild bushel of black facial hair as he considered the question. "Just Hagrid is fine and I'm doing pretty fair if I do say. Just stoppin' in to make the monthly tweedle-newt run..." He paused, as if remembering something. "Have we met? You seem to knowin' an awful lot about me, Miss...?"

"Meiou," The woman supplied, but shook her head. "Not before this moment, though I am here specifically to meet you."

"Me? Not sure what you would want with a humble groundskeeper such as myself," Hagrid arched an equally bushy eyebrow, cocking his head curiously. "Unless ya be needing puppies?"

"Puppies?" Setsuna blinked then shook her head. "No, no puppies. More along the lines that you share a unique relationship with Albus Dumbledore."

The oblivious manner evaporated with the name and the half giant peered down at her with slight wariness now. "That I may, but what business is that of yours?"

"I need to arrange a meeting," The Guardian replied easily. "And to deliver a warning. You are in a unique position to do both, of course."

"Eh, of course." Hagrid looked at the woman dubiously. "Perhaps you should be tellin' me some of the details of this--"

CRUNCH.  
_  
"It's getting out!"  
"Run!"  
"What is it!?"_

Both pairs of eyes turn back down the ally as pedestrians scattered in panic, attempting to put as much distance between themselves and a monstrous plant that appeared to be growing out the side of one of the smaller shops. A larger vine shattered one of the windows and began to creep up the side of the wall, while a number of its smaller brethren took root into the cobblestone street.

"Fire spells!" An anonymous voice called out from the crowd. "Kill it with fire!"

The advisement seem to bring some order to the chaos as a number of wizards pulled their wands out and began to fling smallish bolts at the engulfed store, checking the plant's growth. Setsuna could only stare at the improbable sight, then outright frowned as a certain pigtailed martial artist cleared the milling bystanders. The martial artist smiled easily enough, favoring a cellophane bag from which he occasionally extracted a morsel to be popped into his mouth.

"Hey Meiou-san."

It didn't take much to put two and two together, and Setsuna's gaze narrowed on the Saotome, pulling him aside in the process. "Tell me you weren't the cause of that."

Ranma blinked, not even bothering to look back at what 'that' was and all but confirming his guilt in the process. "Uh, cause what?"

The Mistress of Time's eyes clenched shut and she massaged the bridge of her nose, shaking her head before mentally keying an open channel to the time gates. _Gate, prepare for emergency extraction._

_Affirmative_, came the reply and she favored the martial artist with another malevolent glare before turning back to Hagrid. "As i was saying, the specifics of the warnin-- Oh, for God's sakes."

The half giant stared, attempting to parse the sentence until noticing that the emerald haired woman's attention was no longer on him, but somebody behind him. He turned, his eyes widening. "Oh my..."

She was perhaps one of the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen; a lithe Asian goddess swathed in a light blue pastel jump suit of sorts. Her midnight black hair was tied up into a pony tail and a navy blue cape swirled in her wake as she approached, entrancing Hagrid with her graceful gait. She flashed them a bright smile upon joining them, and the imposing man couldn't help but to smile himself.

"Mister Ranma! Miss Meiou!"

"Welcome _back_, Konatsu," The Guardian ground out, her voice tinted with clear irritation. Her dry gaze walked up and down the male kunoichi's new wardrobe. "My, what_ interesting_ clothes you have."

"Aren't they?!" The nin gushed, dazzling Hagrid with a pirouette. "A nice man at one of the clothing stores showed me this beautiful blue shozoko that matches the glow of my new blade! He says it enhances my armor class or something, and once I saw how good it look, just had to get the pretty cape!"

"I'll bet it does something special too?" Setsuna asked dryly, and Konatsu nodded eagerly at the rhetorical question.

"It enhances my stealth abilities!" The kunoichi fingered the felt cape lovingly.

"It does?" Ranma perked up, suddenly interested in her wardrobe. "Hey, which shop did you get that again?"

"_You_ aren't going anywhere." The Guardian wheeled about, fixing the pigtailed boy with an menacing look. Ranma affected disappointed and the half giant stepped in to fill the gap.

"Um, eh, hello... Name's Hagrid," The towering grounds keeper inserted hopefully, sporting a nervous grin. The chipper girl immediately dropped into a respectful bow.

"Hello Mister Hagrid!" The half giant's heart jumped with her notice and he found himself captivated by her warm countenance. "Are you a friend of Miss Meiou?"

"Ah, yes. Sure," Hagrid nodded eagerly, the cast an unsure glance over to Setsuna. "At least I think so?"

"Of course we are," The emerald haired woman inclined her head graciously, then made a tactical decision to throw the giant under the gender bus. "Aren't we Konatsu?"

"Oh yes, definitely!"

Hagrid was all but dazed by her cheer, trying hard to keep his eyes from wandering the teens shapely form. "Ahem! A message didja say?"

"A simple one," The Guardian of Pluto nodded and pulled a folded sheet of paper from her purse, handing it to the man. "At your earliest convenience, of course. Perhaps we'll see one another again." Implicit in the innocent remark was the fact that Hagrid would be seeing Konatsu again, a fact that she played to her own ruthless advantage. Once again, Hagrid nodded amiably and Setsuna smiled. "Then we've taken up enough of your time. It was a pleasure meeting you."

"Pleasure here too," The half giant nodded with Setsuna's polite bow, though his attentions were entirely for the kunoichi to her right. "Um, see you soon!"

Setsuna shook her head as she made for the street, Ranma in tow and Konatsu trailing behind, waving back at monolithic man. "Honestly, Saotome, I thought you said she was a guy?"

"As straight as you and me," Ranma quipped, smirking. "But then you've never seen him at work. Konatsu can wrap a guy around his finger just as well as I can."

_'Just as well as I can...'_ The Guardian of Time repeated the statement mentally to see if it sounded nearly as bad upon review. When coupled with the fact that she herself hadn't been straight for the last ten thousand years... Setsuna just shook her head, feeling the impending migraine work its way through her brain.

"Let's just _go._"

* * *

_Peck-Peck-Peck._

**K**onatsu paused in his brush stroke, looking up from the small rectangular parchment and ink, over to the sound's source at the hotel room's window. Ranma paused as well, though his activities consisted of simply staring the room's phone and the accompanying business card next to it in silent contemplation. The sound itself was that of a small object striking glass and Konatsu being the closest, rose to find out exactly what was causing it. The pseudo kunoichi stepped over to the window in question and pulled the crimson drapes aside, finding the view largely clear save a large bird perched on the sill. Both martial artist and ninja watched as it leaned forward, tapping the glass delicately.

"I think it wants in..." The nin stared curiously, then noted something tied to its right talon. "A messenger bird?"

Ranma shrugged and Konatsu unlatched the window, letting the bird gust its wings slightly to hop in and onto the backrest of the nearest chair with no fear of the humans around it. Both stared at what was plainly an owl, completely black except for the white splotched plum on its forehead. Its head rotated from one boy to the other, eyeing the pair with large yellow eyes. It bobbed its head once and proffered the scroll laden talon to the kunoichi.

"Why thank you mister Owl!" Konatsu smiled courteously, untying the leather strap that held the scroll in place to free the bird from its bondage. The owl bobbed its head again and oriented itself to the window, taking flight on black wings into the overcast London sky.

"Well that was different." Ranma watched it leave for a moment, then shook his head. He turned back to Konatsu, who was unfurling the scroll. Three gold leaf tickets slid away from the bundle ,falling to the carpeted floor where they were retrieved by the martial artist. He studied one side of a ticket then flipped it over for the other, arching an eyebrow. "Hogwarts Express?"

"In response to your communication, I, Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft cordially accept your request to meet concerning the dire situation you allude to," The Kunoichi read, clearly enthralled by the flowing cursive script. "Please find accompanying tickets for the Hogwarts Express departing from King's Cross station, platform nine and three quarters--"

"Nine and _three quarters?_" The pigtailed boy blinked, pulling away from the gold leaf tickets in hand and focusing on the nin. Half streets he had heard of... But _three quarter streets_? From a train station platform?

Konatsu simply shrugged, and continued reading, "Tomorrow, September first at 11am. Please keep your intentions in the strictest confidence given the subject matter you have broached. Sincerely..."

_Knock, knock._

"It's unlocked, Meiou-san," Ranma answered the closed door, finding the Guardian's distinctive ki out in the hallway beyond.

"That's _Setsuna_ to you," The emerald haired woman smiled as she stepped in, inserting a fractional amount of heat into her words and causing the martial artist to pinken slightly with summoned memory. "I take it the tickets have arrived?"

"Oh, that was a very good guess!" Konatsu smiled, proffering the scroll to her as she walked up to the kunoichi.

"Guess, my ass," Ranma rolled his eyes, only to prompt another warm, teasing smile. Ranma's mouth snapped shut immediately and watched as her attention turned to the scroll now in hand.

The Mistress of Time gave it a cursory study and rerolled it as if it had been exactly as she expected. "The tickets will gain us access to the only means of secure transport, aside from direct site to site teleportation."

"The Hogwarts Express?"

"Exactly," She answered Konatsu directly. "A magical construct- in this case a train and its tracks -rotated ninety degrees..."

"...Outta phase with reality," Ranma finished with a faraway look. He snapped out of it almost as quickly, and shrugged at Setsuna's wondering gaze. "Venus was sayin' somethin' like that back there too. Same place?"

"Exactly the same place," The Mistress of Time confirmed, experiencing yet another moment of deja'vu with her guardian counterpart. Normally she was the only one in the know, holding all the cards as it were. Having somebody around to shoulder the responsibility with her was... _gratifying_. Even in the presence of the other Senshi, she alone still bore the brunt of destiny. They fought side by side, but they did not have a grasp of what was truly at stake or what had gone before. In time they would but, until then, she was alone in her mission... alone in her destiny... _But..._ She contemplated the teen next her silently... _Maybe not._

"Apparently the refugee site became the foundation for what is a present day academy of wizardry, with civilization spreading outward once it was clear that the enemy had been more or less obliterated," She continued, brushing past the familiarity that was rapidly tying up her thoughts more and more as of late. "Returning to the moon was an impossibility by then, of course."

Ranma's face went grim while Konatsu glanced from Ranma's darkening mood to Setsuna's subdued one. He raised his hand tepidly, as if in class. "Excuse me, but what does the moon have anything to do with Hogwarts?"

Setsuna stood in contemplative silence for a moment, trying to determine just what to tell the Kunoichi. Ranma snorted softly. The sound contained no humor, falling into the silence like mere punctuation. "You wanna tell him or should I?"

"Be my guest."

"Told ya this was serious stuff, right?" The nin nodded and Ranma continued. "Used to be people of there, 'Natsu. Lots of 'em until a war. It was so bad that nearly everybody got wiped out, except for a few survivors who escaped down here."

Konatsu absorbed the information with a tilted head, while the mild expression on his face didn't make it clear as to whether he believed the tale or not. "Who won, then?"

"We did." The Guardian of Pluto replied softly. "If you can call the destruction of an entire civilization winning."

"I... See..." The Kunoichi picked over the terse history carefully, weighing it before forwarding his own hypothesis. "Would it be fair to assume that the forces arrayed against us are those of the tale?"

"Leftovers," Ranma nodded. Setsuna shook her head at his the completely inadequate descriptive of the forces potentially arrayed against them.

"And left unchecked, spell certain doom for those in the here and now," The guardian added soberly. "It is not to late to back out."

Konatsu shook his head emphatically. "Goodness, I wouldn't think of doing such a thing! It is a ninja's solemn duty to combat demonic forces and evil spirits!"

_Damn,_ Setsuna groused mentally but schooled an even expression. "Then gather up everything you need. We head out tomorrow."

* * *

**U**kyo Kuonji yawned, dressed, but still wallowing lethargically as she walked down the stairs that connected her second story apartment to her restaurant on the ground floor. Rays of sunlight pierced the vacant space as she walked across the small area and around the counter, frowning. _Getting lazy_, she noted mentally, half expecting Konatsu to already be up and preparing the kitchen for the lunchtime opening. Still, oversleeping by a half hour was still something well within her ability to compensate for. After all, she had been raised around cooks most of her life, and kitchen prep was second nature to the Okanomiyaki master. _Flour, batter, eggs, oil..._ Her brain began to run down the initial checklist until stopped by something out of place in her usual routine; specifically a postcard lying on the floor, having been slipped through the door mail slot sometime during the night.

She paused and steeped around the counter and stools, instantly recognizing Konatsu's flowing script as she bent down to snatch the correspondence up. A slight smile crossed her face as she studed the glossy picture of Big Ben on the front, then the message on the back.

_Miss Ukyo,_

_Per your instructions, I have followed Mister Ranma in order to determine his final destination. He has flown to London, England in the company of Professor Meiou. I will send another letter once I determine the exact location of their stay._

_Your devoted servant,_

_Konatsu  
_  
_London?_ Ukyo's grip began to crinkle the edge of the postcard as she attempted to find either rhyme or reason as to the sudden relocation, while the glossy photo on the correspondence face all but confirmed the fact. The obvious cause was the green haired "history professor", not that she bought that into _that_ for a second. The Meiou woman was as much a history teacher as Kuno was a Samurai. The fact that she was good looking and alone with her Ran-chan was disconcerting enough, let alone apparently had the resources to spirit him away half way around the world from beneath their very noses. In fact, the only good news was that she was now in possession of the sole piece of information indicating Ranma's whereabouts. A mischievous grin crossed face and she spun on a heel, racing back upstairs to pack.

Unbeknownst to scheming fiancée, others fiancées had been scheming before her. Konatsu's postcard had actually reached Nerima yesterday morning. The mail carrier delivering it was promptly intercepted by a purple haired female Amazon teen who had been staking out all of her challengers for just such an occurrence. She liberated Konatsu's notice by force, copied the contents and erased the postman's memory through the use of berry fresh formula 411. With little recollection of what had just happened, the civil service employee continued along his way, managing only a few more blocks before being intercepted Tatewaki and Kodachi Kuno, both of which took turns plying the postman with money and drugs until his resistance broke; surrendering the correspondence between hallucinatory episodes.

An hour later he woke up slumped over on a nearby bench with only hazy memories as to how he had come to be thirty thousand yen richer. Midday found him with a splitting headache, but marginally closer to the completion of his delivery route until being beset upon by none other than the Ice Queen herself, Nabiki Tendo. After some choice examples of indiscretions on the job- namely drug use and bouts of senility -he reluctantly surrendered the postcard to Nabiki and was subsequently thirty thousand yen lighter for having spoken to the girl to begin with.

In the end, Konatsu's postcard did get to its recipient as intended, save the fact that Ukyo Kuonji, Master Okanomiyaki Chef, was the very _last _to become aware of Ranma Saotome's whereabouts.

* * *

"**Y**ou should. I would!"

"Well not everybody's you," Ranma frowned as Kunoichi and martial artist trailed behind Setsuna Meiou, who in turn led them through the expanse of the King Cross rail station and on to their appointed rounds. Ranma cast an irritated sidelong glance at the transvestite kunoichi, swathed in her new blue shozoko. "Look, I wasn't raised as a girl and playing dress up ain't exactly tops on my things to do."

"You do it so well, though!" Konatsu pointed out eagerly to Ranma, who wore a simple pair of blue jeans and dark red dress shirt. Setsuna had tried to ply a bra to the girl, who had obstantly refused under objection she wasn't about to change who she was just because people percieved the body differently. The Guardian of Time had surprisingly little to say on the matter and departed Ranma with a smirk, leaving the thin shirt fabric to do the job. "Remember when we helped Mistress Ukyo? We couldn't have stayed open nearly as long as we did if not for you!"

"Oh?" Setsuna glanced back over her shoulder, clad in her own business suit-skirt combination that merely pretended to be conservative in nature. In reality, the gray near knee length skirt hugged every generous curve of her hips and legs, while the button down rayon blouse reflected silver-pink in the light and consequently tended to draw attention to her ample chest... Attention Ranma was desperately trying not to induldge in. The guardian turned back to the pair, clearly interested in the direction of the conversation now. "What's this?"

"That ain't--" Ranma attempted to interrupt before the telling could continue, but Konatsu was already launching into the details.

"Yes, Mister Ranma had the serving room packed, and they lined up down the block. I think every guy in Nerima was waiting to see her that day."

A slight smile escaped Setsuna's casual demeanor. "Is that right?"

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm looking to make a career out of it," Ranma shook his head, his psyche warring between pride and gender prejudice. "Hell, most of the time I'm roped into that crap."

"But your so lucky!" Konatus gushed, fingering the business card labeled 'Flange Fashion'. "Travelling around the world... Meeting new and exciting people... And as a real girl, too! It's _so_ not fair."

Her last words ended as a pout and the redhead couldn't help but to quirk a slight smile, but dispelled it with her next words. "I'm a martial artist, 'Natsu. What's this gonna do for me besides cause trouble?"

"But you should try it!" Konatsu persuaded eagerly. "I didn't know there was something better waiting for me until I met you and Miss Ukyo, either!  
_  
Me? Something better?_ Ranma frowned once more. The reference the nin was drawing to his own past was obvious enough... _Pretty much shit on by those tea house weirdoes. Hell, I'd be jumpin' at the chance to get... out... from... _The martial artist's through process ground to a halt, staring warily at the taller neo-girl. Konatsu noticed the attention and blinked; a completely innocently look inhabiting his face.

"Did I say something wrong, Miss Ranma?"

_Only that I should be pickin' my 'better something' before life picks it for me, _Ranma's psyche grumbled. _And that my situation's apparently bad enough that even you drew the parallel.  
_  
"So then how I know what my somethin' better is, then?_" _Ranma pressed, wondering if there was yet more depth to the nin's insightful observations or if that was it for the day. Instead, Setsuna glanced back with a smile.

"It hands you their business card and offers you a chance at a life, independence and a whole lot of money in the process," She mentioned easily. "But then again, that could be just me."

The dry look he sent back at her in no way negated the validity of her statement, unfortunately, and the Saotome was forced to chew on the fact once more. Was it worth the occasional fashion shoot in his female aspect? Just to have the option of not dealing with the same tired path everyday? _Hell, an entire race got along just fine the way I am..._

Setsuna Meiou suddenly stopped, digging into her purse. Ranma watched curiously until she withdrew a cellular phone, keying a button on its surface. She pressed it into the redhead's hand before turning back down her path of travel while mentioning over her shoulder, "You can always say no later."

Ranma glanced over at Konatsu, who nodded eagerly, offering the business card back. She eyed both parties before taking the card and absently dialed up the number on its face. "Don't suppose this has anything to do with you asking me to take this trip as a girl, does it, Setsuna-san?"

"While I am a fan of efficiency, no," She shook her head, guiding both girls back along their path as Ranma pushed the phone to her ear. "Events today specifically require your female aspect in order to achieve the most optimal results."

Ranma shrugged, filing the detail away for future scrutiny as the phone rang in her ear. It picked up after three repetitions with a polite secretary greeting her. "Yeah, Saotome, Ranma. Buckle is... Uh, okay. Sure, yeah. Tell him I accept. Okay... Okay... Yeah, bye."

Konatsu stared at the red head expectantly as they walked. Even the Guardian of Time took a glance back and Ranma rolled her eyes, finding the indulgence of their curiosity a necessary evil. "Secretary knew who I was... Says the Buckle guy already scheduled a photo shoot next week, Wednesday."

"My, how presumptuous of him," Setsuna smirked as the trio stepped out of the main hall and onto a rail platform, where a crowd awaited their train's arrival. "And quite eager, unless I missed my guess. I would think he has a lot riding on this."

"If you say so," Ranma shrugged as Setsuna stopped next to one of the platform pillars. "Says he'll send a limo... The shoot's somewhere near a town called Axbridge."

"Congratulations Miss Ranma!" Konatus bubbled beside her, earning a leaded glare that did nothing to dampen her spirits. "Can I come along? Please?"

"Feh, whatever," The glare faded as the martial artist found it impossible to hold any sort of real grudge against the Kunoichi. Instead she attempted to affect indifference. "Just don't make me regret it."

"Thank you, Miss Ranma!"

Ranma simply shook her head, turning back to Setsuna. "So we waitin' on a train?"

"Of sorts," The emerald haired woman nodded, motioning over to the next station pillar nearly ten meters away. "Watch the support and those around it carefully."

Ranma and Konatsu watched, noting little out of the ordinary about the pillar until what appeared to be an adult accompanying several kids aligned themselves with the front of the structure, and took to walking toward it at a brisk clip. Suddenly, it became very hard to focus on them, as if a sixth sense was insisting something else around their person required immediate attention.

"Focus," Setsuna murmured and both martial artist and Kunoichi redoubled their efforts to ignore the mental itch, and were reward as one adult and two children promptly walked into the pillar and vanished.

"Well that was weird," Ranma blinked. With the disappearance of the people, the itch had vanished. Konatsu likewise stared, then looked around just to ensure the mental compulsion wasn't a more tangible threat.

"Platform Nine and Three Quarters," The Mistress of Time nodded. "A portal through phased reality, protected by spell that compels any who turn their attention on it or those passing through away from the act." Setsuna outstretched her hand and the Time Key materialized with a slight puff, falling into her hand. "Since it is specially tuned to those with magical potential, it only affects those without, increasing in strength with proximity. The Garnet Rod's magical signature should mask you both until we're safely through."

Both teens nodded. Stealth and misdirection were tactics both were well familiar with, and they followed Setsuna as she lined up with the pillar herself. Ranma cocked her head thoughtfully, staring at the pillar they were walking toward. "How's that work anyway? Does _it_ know we're here?"

"No," Setsuna shook her head, stepping up to what appeared to be solid matter supporting the bulk of the train station's structure. "It reads as an area of effect spell that simply latches on to any living thing without a magical signature. You are aware of how opposites attract?" Both of her charges nodded. "The spell is drawn to those opposites as soon as they enter its radius. The only way to avoid it is to be magically charged and thus repel the spell."

Ranma grunted her understanding and Setsuna paused before testing the threshold of the porthole with the tip of her staff. Her ally was contemplating something concerning the topic of conversation and she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. The guardian mentally shrugged and tapped the portals event horizon, watching as it passed through with little resistance. "Let's go."

Setsuna lead and the two teens followed, instantly stopping as their senses came to terms with what was on the other side. Even Setsuna arched an eyebrow as she took in the difference between what had only seconds before been an covered modern station, suddenly becoming a throwback to the nineteen hundreds. A crowd milled around the now largely outdoor platforms, waiting to board what looked to be a classic steam engine; wisps of white smoke drifted away from its black steel hull.

"This our ride?" Ranma jabbed a thumb back at the locomotive and what appeared to be a predominantly teenage crowd boarding it, and the Mistress of Time began to distribute their tickets.

"Indeed," Konatsu took his ticket, then Ranma hers. "Most of those here are students. If anybody asks, we'll be using the same cover as the last time."

"The Chrono Mage thing."

"Correct," She affirmed Ranma's supposition. "You, on the other hand, might have to endure some more pointed questions."

"Me?" Ranma eyes the woman warily. "And why's that?"

A smile met the inquiry, and it was easy to note the playful edge inhabiting her lips. "You look exactly the same as the day you left the Silver Millennium, Guardian Saotome. Trust me when I say you made quite an impression."

Ranma frowned. "Normally when I leave that sort of impression people want to either marry me or kill me."

"If one didn't know any better, that statement might be thought of as bragging," Setsuna teased, causing Ranma to roll his eyes.

"You got _no_ idea."

"It's true," Konatsu chimed in pleasantly. "I tried to kill Ranma when I first met him, too."

The woman returned skeptically, trading looks between the smiling kunoichi who looked anything but homicidal and Ranma, who simply shrugged at the facts of life. "Charmed life you lead, Ranma-kun."

"Hey, I'm with you, aren't I?" the redhead quipped back, returning her humor in full. Setsuna shook her head with a slightly troubled expression.

"Hitsuzen is certainly a bothersome thing," Setsuna shook her head with mock irritation. "Once I'm able to divert its resources, I will simply _have_ to snoop into both of your lives."

"Not much to know," Ranma admitted, shaking her head. "Just martial arts, a training trip, a couple curses, a dozen rivals and just as many fiancées. Heck, 'Natsu is the only one out of that group not tryin' to beat the hell out of me on sight, come to think of it."

"Of course not!" Konatsu shook his head readily, clearly aghast at the notion. The kunoichi gained a thoughtful look after a moment of reconsideration. "Well, that is unless Miss Ukyo ordered me to."

Ranma shrugged and Setsuna shook her head, turning back toward the throng of students.

"ALL ABOARD!" A sharp steam whistle accompanied the ordered, sending a plume of pure white smoke into the air. A dapper suited man hanging from the side of the black and green trimmed engine continued to shout out advisements. "The 11am Express, London to Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft will be departing in ten minutes! Please stow all baggage and secure your familiars for the trip! See Mister Mortimer in car two for special accommodations! Again, the Hogwarts Express departs in ten minutes! Please have tickets in hand before boarding!"

"Familiars?" Konatsu perked up, looking around with the question while trying to ascertain just what a familiar was.

"Animal companions," Setsuna explained. "Magically enhanced intelligence. The owl that delivered our tickets was undoubtedly one. In fact, the Lunar Court was fond of using Moon Cats in an advisory capacity."

"Cats?"

The woman picked up the note of trepidation in Ranma's voice and studied his suddenly up tight demeanor. _A phobia?_ "Yes, cats. Is there something I should perhaps _know_ about cats?"

"Oh yes! Ranma is deathly afraid of cats!" The redhead opened her mouth, only to have her protest cheerily preempted by her kunoichi counterpart.

"I ain't afraid of 'em, dammit," Ranma snapped, causing Konatsu to cringe slightly and attracting the attention of the closer students. Even Setsuna arched an eyebrow. "I just don't want to be in the same--"

"Miss Ukyo says you lapse into something called the Neko-Ken," He volunteered further, earning a withering glare from the girl.

The Mistress of Time frowned with the revelation. "This wouldn't fall under the header of 'exploitable weaknesses,' would it?"

"Good luck on that," Ranma mumbled, then flashed a last glare at Konatsu before sighing. "I don't feel like tellin' the long version, so the short one is that my old man botched an unbeatable martial arts technique when I was kid. The result is that I _really_ don't like cats..."

"_Annnnd...?"_

"...And that if it gets bad enough, I black out and go cat myself." The martial artist shook her head as Setsuna drew the answer out of her. The question was plainly visible in her eyes, so Ranma elaborated. "It's a berserker state, completely instinct driven. Anything perceived as a threat gets shredded."

"Shredded?" Konatsu tilted his head curiously.

"Shredded. As in sliced apart by half meter ki talons," Ranma nodded solemnly. Konatsu blinked, taken back by the answer and even Setsuna's eyes widened. Ranma noted the reaction, letting a terse chuckle out herself. "Yeah, like that."

"What is your... _tolerance?_" The Guardian of Time asked, carefully probing the width and breadth of her companions psychological impediment.

"Some days I can stand a few dozen, others... just one," Ranma picked her words carefully. "It ain't just _seeing_ one, though. Takes more than that."

"Then we'll just have to work around it," The emerald haired woman nodded seriously. "But just as a precautionary note, Hogwarts _will_ have cats. Will that be a problem?"

Ranma's cheek twitched. "As long as nobody--"

"Tickets please," An elderly man in a double breasted red suit requested, and the tickets were relinquished one by one, allowing all three stepped aboard the train with only the most cursory inspection of their person. The trio boarded the car, threading their way through the bustle of students stowing their gear in the various compartments until final coming to their own compartment, retreating from the bustle of the car's public walkway. The windowed door closed with a click and the noise beyond subsided, sealing the travelers within.

The red head looked around expectantly, sitting down. "That's it?"

"You were expecting something more?" Setsuna asked, sinking into one of the padded sofa seats.

Ranma continued to soak in their accommodations. Their section was as antique as the exterior of the train, but might as well have only been commissioned to service yesterday. Brass railing and wood adorned the modest compartment and the sofa lounges were well padded. "Well, yeah. All this talk about stuff being outta phase... Thought we were boarding a ghost train or something."

"Hardly, though I can see where the misconception would stem from," Setsuna shook her head, patiently explaining the concept to both Ranma and Konatsu. "The easiest way to think of phased reality is to liken it to a multi-lane highway. The station we just walked out of is in one lane while this train and its platform are in another lane, all existing side by side."

"But wouldn't we crash by switchin' lanes?" Ranma asked, tenuously feeling his way through space-time theory. "I mean, if another car were in the lane?"

"The lanes exist transparent to the other lanes," Setsuna continued. "You can pass from lane to lane regardless of the traffic without crashing, nor can one lane see the other in most cases."

"Is that why we can't see the other train station?" Konatsu asked, staring out the car window. Another steam whistle sounded and the last of the passengers beyond rushed to keep up with the imminent departure. The Mistress of Time nodded, affirming the observation while Ranma cocked her head, working through the logic herself.

"So Serenity-chan was sendin' people down here out of phase so they couldn't be seen?" Ranma theorized, watching a group of students carry on as they passed through the hallway beyond the windowed compartment.

"Exactly," Setsuna rewarded her with a smile; a smile that lost energy with her next words. "It was a gamble, however. Phased reality would protect the refugees from lesser threats, but had Beryl survived..."

"It wouldn't have made a damn bit of difference," Ranma concluded with the obvious point. The whistle screamed again and the world lurched beneath their feet as if to punctuate his statement. The engine rumbled as its iron wheels gained purchase on the tracks below, slowly pulling its mass forward. Steam poured away from the engine car's chimney with the strained effort, clearing the station at a labored crawl.

Ranma sat back and relaxed, already a veteran of numerous train rides herself. Konatsu, on the other hand, was all but plastered against their window, watching as the scenery passed and lethargically picked up speed. Setsuna had already tuned the window out, having pulled a book out to read. The redhead peered over at the emerald haired woman, now forcibly reminded that she hadn't brought along anything to do... _Not even a deck of cards_, she groused, looking around the compartment until spying a rack of magazines at the end of her couch. She slid over to it, picking one out at random._ Good as anything else, I guess._

Her hand reached into the stack and happened upon a newspaper first. Without a particular care as to what she had grabbed, Ranma pulled it out with little fanfare and unfolded the crinkled parchment. As expected, the block headlines were in English, which she stood some reasonable hope of translating. What wasn't expect were the pictures, specifically fully animated black and white photos that quite literally moved across the paper. The redhead stared, entranced by what was effectively a short reel movie before moving on to the headline.

_  
'Azkaban's_ _Sirius Black Still at Large!_' She translated slowly, and began to skim the article. The most she could discern was that it was something concerning an escapee from some prison, but that was as much detail as the martial artist cared to glean without thoroughly committing herself to the task of a full translation. The picture began to move again and this time Ranma took note of the details as it showed some man- obviously a prisoner as indicated by the wrist and leg chains -being led out of a room. _Sucks to be you_, Ranma snorted mentally and flipped the page, already eager to watch more of the animated headlines. The next page all but leapt out at her as ads began to animate wildly with the main headlines, all vying for her attention.

She blinked and turned attention to the window that Konatsu was still watched, noting the scenery moving along at a nice pace now. The kunoichi turned away from his view for a moment, glancing back at Setsuna. "How long will this trip take, Miss Setsuna?"

"Exactly six hours, thirty eight minutes, fifty one seconds..." She paused, noticing both neo-girls staring. "Um, about six hours. Sorry. Force of habit."

Konatsu smiled kindly, dismissing the quirk outright while Ranma shrugged. _Six hours until more magical shenanigans,_ she noted, returning the paper back to the bin where it had been retrieved from. With that, she spread out into her side of the sofa and laid down, putting a convenient pillow over her head in order to get some rest. "Don't wake me unless monsters attack the train."

Setsuna smirked with the monster comment but otherwise let the redhead lapse into slumber. After all, they would all be _very_ busy once they reached Hogwarts.

* * *

_Thunk-Thunk!_

**T**he car rolled with the rough patch, bouncing the pillow from Ranma face and jarring her awake with the movement. A cursorily glance over at his emerald haired companion revealed the woman still reading, one leg cross around the other. The view allowed Ranma the full advantage of the woman's exquisite legs before they disappeared into the modest cut of the gray skirt she wore. When the redhead finally drew her focus away from those works of art, he found an amused pair of red eyes simply staring at him.

"Um..."

Setsuna cocked her head as if she didn't quite understand.

"Eh..." Ranma struggled, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that her eyes had been caught looking where they shouldn't have been looking. A violent demise was likely to follow if she didn't think of something, quick. "It's, um..."

"What was that Ranma-kun?" The Guardian of Time's lips took on an amused edge.

Ranma gulped. "Eh... Good book?"

Setsuna simply smiled at her. It was a smile whose owner knew they had caught somebody dead to rights, but what confused Ranma was that it didn't hold the promise of pain its recipient had expected. After another full minute under the knowing smile, a slight blush began to heat the girl's cheeks and the woman relented. "Actually yes."

"Erm, think I would like it?" Ranma asked, under no illusions that she was actually distracting the woman and her smile from her observations, but still hoped to cover for her gaff regardless.

"I think there are_ many_ things you would like, Ranma," Setsuna persisted in that all but leering smile, deciding to countermand her more serious nature in favor of a little mischief for once. "That aside, you don't seem like the romance novel type.... Though it does contain ninjas, magic and a bit of action every now and then."

"Sounds like one of those TV shows Kasumi always watches," Ranma fought through the suggestive lilt and the heated blush it produced. She propped herself upright and took a look over at Konatsu, who was slumped sound asleep in the couch corner of the sofa. Beyond him was the window with little more than gray mists and shadows of the world beyond passing by at a blur.

"Still about two hours until we arrive," The emerald haired guardian supplied, and Ranma's stomach grumbled in response.

"Damn, don't think I'm going to last that long," The martial artist commented, looking around for a something to snack on. She cocked her head, suddenly remembering something. "Oh yeah, forgot about that."

A quick flick of the hand revealed a shiny cellophane wrapped rectangle, and she eyed it greedily, already poised to rip it open. Setsuna arched an eyebrow. "Now I haven't seen one of those in nearly fourteen thousand years. What flavor is it?"

"Venusian cherry? Some poor sap tossed it to me while I was back there," Ranma read the label while wondering just what Venusian cherry tasted like. Something scraped against their door and her attention was drawn to the entrance window where a woman passed, pushing a cart laden with all sorts of food and snacks. "Then again, I'm thinkin' somethin' off the cart looks pretty good too. Want anything?"

"I don't see why not," The guardian shrugged, returning to her book. "Whatever is convenient... Just try not to destroy the locomotive in the process."

"Ain't my fault the olive guy gave me those screwy things," Ranma grumbled as she pulled the windowed door open, sliding out with the reminder of a certain wand maker's devastated store at her back. The guardian simply smiled as the martial artist stalked after their food.

..._Woman is strange_, Ranma decided as she stepped out onto the narrow hallway and dodged a couple of student walking in the opposite direction. She noted the curious glances they sent her way but ignored them for the most part, content on taking the edge off her appetite and chewing on the mystery that was Setsuna Meiou. She clearly wasn't a fiancée, but after nearly a dozen of them, Ranma Saotome _knew_ teasing and flirting. Setsuna teased. Setsuna even flirted unless she was totally misreading the woman, but emerald haired woman held none of the pretense the others did in their activities. Shampoo, Ukyo, Kodachi... They all expected something. They teased and flirted, expecting the target of their affections to respond.

_Like I'm going to dip a toe into that disaster waiting to happen, _Ranma appended mentally while idly noting the snack cart had moved to the next train car. She pulled the car door open and wind buffeted her slightly as she followed, the noise spiking sharply as metal shrieked and groaned around her. She was through and into the next car seconds later, where a group of students had already descended upon the elderly woman and her foodstuffs. She qued behind one of the waiting students, her thoughts returning to Setsuna. Her flirting and teasing held none of those ulterior motives. She wasn't expecting a date. She wasn't expecting commitment. _She's just having fun?_ Ranma wondered, rolling the foreign concept around in his mind. She was also secure in herself, something the martial artist knew was lacking in the girls. Sure, the attention was great, but at the end of the day, Ranma knew they all had something riding on her and--

The train suddenly lurched, and Ranma could feel the their momentum bleed away a until the cars rumbled to a not so gentle stop, forcing Ranma to grab a nearby brass railing for support. The students did likewise and even the cart of snacks rolled a meter before finally being brought back under control.

_Good question_, Ranma replied silently as the boys and girls around the cart dispersed, walking back to their compartments; all wondering aloud what had just happened. To her knowledge, they still had the good portion of two hours left and she was relatively certain that Setsuna would have advised them of any changes in the schedule. _Maybe go back and ask her---_

Ranma stopped mid-turn. Something was wrong._ Something... cold,_ she attempted to put a description to the feeling of ill ease emanating from beyond in the next car. The train's lighting flickered, giving substance to the misgiving. Ranma removed herself from the crowd of lingering students and moved though the breeze way, slowly opening the door to the next car where the disquieting feeling gained intensity. She glanced back, noting that nobody harbored the inclination to follow her, let alone seemed to sense the blanket of evil themselves. _What the hell_? Ranma wondered mentally, priming her ki on reflex as she passed one of the private compartments, then another. The first was empty; the second, a pair of students staring out the window completely oblivious to her presence. Both seemed to have the windows almost completely frosted over. The evil gained pressure and depth as she passed two more empty compartments. One was open and a cloaked darkness seemed to be leaning into the doorway.

The sight along produced a wellspring of terror in her gut. It was a shadow, a rolling blanket of blackness. Somehow it wasn't solid, but she could see it and _through_ it. Whatever it was doing, there was no way something that evil could be up to any sort of good whatsoever. Ranma let her ki strobe out and she sensed what her eyes couldn't see... four focal points of chi with the thing itself registered as a nothingness, as if life force couldn't exist in the same space it-- One of the spikes of ki began to falter and Ranma already knew what that meant from her interaction with the Pluto of Silver Millennium past. Whoever it was, he was _dying_, and that was her cue.

"Hey, ugly!" The demon hissed with coarse greeting, turning back towards what had interrupted its feeding. Socketless eyes fell upon Ranma and the roiling terror suddenly seized her completely, forcing her to take and involuntary step back. She tried to form a coherent thought... _Tried_ to draw on her ki, but simply having it focus on her seemed to dissolve any will power she could bring forth. In its place, terror. Mindless, irrational _terror_. It considered her for a moment before dismissing her as a threat and turned back to the compartment. The wave of all consuming terror dropped to something more manageable for Ranma and she snarled, beating back the fear with memories of impossible victories that in turn helped to consolidating all her ki and confidence into a cohesive barrier that glowed bright blue around her.

"_I don't think so_."

The black cloak of shadows twisted around just in time to watch a blue sphere of absolutely perfect emotional confidence form in the interlopers hand, only to have it released into its mass at point blank range. It detonate against the shadow, flashing a brilliant blue while the Moko Takabisha's concussive wave destroyed everything behind it. The car's frame opened like aluminum foil against a typhoon, blowing the wraith and chunk of the wall out into dense fog beyond. Ranma paused at the compartment just long enough to ensure the occupants were okay. A girl and boy stared incredulously back at her while the other with glasses was comatose.

_But alive,_ she noted. The forth occupant was an older, mustachioed man that looked like he could have been Soun Tendo had he been born Caucasian. He lowered the wand that he had been aiming directly into the space the wraith had occupied while staring at her, questions were all but radiating from him... Questions Ranma had little time for them and even fewer answers. "Get everybody out of this car."

The martial artist didn't wait for a response to her ultimatum, but watched the shadow ghost tumble through the fog laden air for a moment before righting itself, gliding alongside the train for a moment before arcing back in. Ranma took the action as a an invitation and joined it outside, flipping up through the breach and onto the roof of the car. The martial artist stabilized her flip and unleashed two vacuum blades into her target, catching it completely unaware and slicing its headlong advance in half, then quarters. She landed lightly on the car roof and was nearly ready to congratulate herself when the faltering shadowy clumps began to reform.

_Just _once _I'd like this to go easy_, Ranma frowned and sighted her arms on the reforming target. "Moko Takabisha _Double!_"

The wraith snarled as it reformed into a cohesive, singular element, dodging the first ball of confidence ki but failing to miss the second. Another detonation of life energy sent it tumbling, but only momentarily. Tenacity was evidently one thing the shadow didn't lack and Ranma watched it circle around along the train's length. At five cars distance she sent another bolt of ki downrange, only to watch the monstrosity twist around and evade it completely, closing into four car lengths. Three. Every instinct told her that going hand to hand with the thing was real bad idea, and the vacuum blades only served to inconvenience it.

_Close in it is then,_ Ranma decided, allowing the wraith to close to within two car lengths. Terror continued to pound at her shield of confidence and she ignored it as the thing planted itself on her car and made the lunge. Ranma rolled back as boney claws sought her, strobbing her very muscles with near paralytic terror as they passed within striking distance. Still, the thing was slow by any standard she had seen over the last two years and the redhead was down and around, along i's open flank faster than it could react. She pushed another Moko Takabisha into it and profiled through the resulting blast wave. This time the roof of the car lost a couple of surface layers, but the creature took most of the intended damage, cart wheeling through the air chaotically before righting itself while hissing and chittering furiously.

"Yeah, yeah. Talk's cheap," The redhead quipped, smirking at the shadowy creature in spite of the torrent of fear trying to find a gap through her own shield of confidence. Inwardly, however, she was beginning to harbor doubts. Moko Takabishas weren't doing anything more than smack the thing around. There would have been the possibility of a reverse Hiryu Shoten Ha with as much cold as it put out, but the bridge they had stopped on made that not only impossible, but dangerous to everybody on board. It snarled and dove in once more, shadowy blackness trailing behind it like a cloak of doom. Ranma slid into her next stance as it skimmed the car's roof, readied to reengage when the area around it suddenly sprouted kunai. The wraith twisted upward through the staccato of thumps and it was only then Ranma noted tiny slips of paper burning down on each.

"What's--"

_BOoooOOM!_

The redhead braced as four explosions ripped the front third of the car open, showering the area with flaming debris and leaving the roof's framework torn open like a makeshift skylight. Seconds later a kunoichi landed in a crouch before her, her glowing short sword glowing bright blue and held in reserve to strike.

"Nice entrance, 'Natsu," Ranma complimented, tracking the wraith as it circled their train. "Don't think the fireworks are gonna hurt it, though."

"Thank you, Miss Ranma," The neo girl returned in a polite, but subdued tone. "Though I must confess that I am having a hard time tracking your assailant."

That brought the martial artist short as she watched the fiend circle left, obvioulsy uncertain of the new arrival while Konatsu scanned the sky, her gaze passing right by it. "You can't see it."

"Unfortunately," Konatsu admitted, still looking around. "I could only sense the complete absence of life force when I was right on top of it."

_Thus the shotgun spread of explosive kunai_, Ranma reasoned internally, though she could sense the sucking hole of chi clearly, even from this distance. "Left; your three o'clock. About twenty meters out."

The nin's head swiveled into the correct parcel of sky, but the redhead could tell he still wasn't seeing anything. "And you can see it? It has a most disconcerting aura about it..."

"Mister doom and gloom? Oh yeah, can't miss that," She commented watching warily as the creature lined back up on the train for another pass. "Get ready, it's makin' another run. I'll call out the cars for ya."

Konatsu simply nodded, closing his eyes while pulling a slip of paper from the folds of his breast with his free hand, while the blue sword's glow in the other gained intensity. "Four cars... Three... Two... Here he comes!"

The kunoichi was instantly on the move, sprinting forward into what appeared to be a clear path. Ranma knew it to be otherwise and watched as the shadowy claw shot forth, into the nin and--

_Poof!_

The neo-girl disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the black wraith reached through a cut of wood even as Konatsu reappeared above and behind it, her blade already on its downward stroke. The blade fell into apparent nothingness for the kunoichi then flared bright blue. From Ranma's perspective, the ghost suddenly screamed, hissing in agony as the blade passed though its back and down what should have been it's spine, but the ninja wasn't done. Konatsu hit the ground lightly even as it spun around and threw the seal in before rolling out and away. The result was spectacular, and Konatsu's eyes widened as the twisting mass of shadows became visible for the first time, writhing in agony before him. It hiss and snapped at its tormentor for a moment before reaching around and ripping the seal away, letting it burned to ashes in the breeze. The cloaked creature gave Konatsu a final hateful look before washing away back into invisibility, but he knew it wasn't gone. The void of life force was still there and so was the fear attempting to break through. He readied for its renewed assault and-

_CRa-CrACK!_

The wraith tumbled off into open air as it took both of Ranma's Moko Takabisha full on across the back. Wishful thinking would have had the black monstrosity fall off into the foggy abyss that the bridge sat suspended over. Wishful thinking was, unfortunately exactly that and the creature hissed and chittered madly as it righted itself and began circling the Hogwarts Express once more. Students were hanging out the windows of the other cars now, either watching the creature circle fearfully or watching the two females on the battle damaged train as they held it off.

"Any ideas?" Ranma glanced over to Konatsu as the thing continued its orbit around them. "I'm just pissin' it off with the moko takabishas."

The kunoichi shook her head, eyes searching the sky in a fruitless effort to ascertain its position. "The seals appear to cause it pain. My wonderful, blue enchanted blade as well, but apparently not enough to deter it from its purpose here."

"Nothing short of an artifact from the Silver Millennium will kill a Dementor."

Life force flared at Ranma's back and he turned around to find what his senses already told him, though the sight filled him with no small amount of deja'vu. The last time he had seen her in the black fuku and ribbon she wore now was soaked in blood a good twenty thousand years in the past. Dead or not, she was certainly a sight in the outfit, Ranma decided, her attention moving onto the weapon she now held. It was, in fact, the very one she herself had used to split multi armed demon in half. "Fortunately, I have just such an artifact."

"Had one just like it," Ranma sniffed with amusement, the slightest smirk edging its way across her face in spite of the dire situation; then added. "Mine was better."

"And didn't I specifically tell you _not_ to destroy the train?" The guardian of Pluto quipped back, causing the pigtailed girl to roll her eyes.

"It was like this when I got here."

"What a beautiful uniform!" Konatsu suddenly perked up, admiring Setsuna's fuku battle armor. "You didn't tell me you were a magical girl! Can _I _be a pretty defender of love and justice too??"

"Must have slipped my mind," Setsuna Meiou cast a dry look at the Kunoichi before turning back to their sky born adversary. "I'll need you both to get the Dementor down here and keep it occupied until I can seal it, understand?"

"Good as anything I got," Ranma shrugged, allowing a bright blue ball of ki to coalesce in her hand. "You, 'Natsu?" The neo girl shook her head. Ranma nodded and looked skyward. "Hey, ugly!, Got somethin' for you!"

It was like a dead scream, The Princess of Pluto noted as she watched Ranma form his signature attack for the first time in person and sent it lancing out through fifty meters of altitude and up into the Dementor. No, it wasn't nearly as powerful, but the fact that it was composed of a sphere of pure life force all but made up for the fact. Its flight time, however, gave the wraith plenty of warning and it looped away to allow it passage. It seemed content to ignore the attack until the ki began to loose cohesion with range, whereupon it dove into the ball readily.

"What the hell?" Ranma stared, as did Konatsu and Pluto. The martial artist had expected to provoke it into attacking _them_, not the moko takabisha....

Konatsu cocked his head. While he couldn't see the wraith for himself, he could see its effects on the ball of fading ki as it seemed to implode unnaturally. "What is it_ doing_?"

"Ranma," Setsuna asked, never taking her eyes off the Dementor as it swooped into the nebulous ball of ki and began to _absorb_ it. "What _exactly_ is that attack comprised of?"

"Um, just ki... Confidence amplified ki," He replied, glancing at his guardian counterpart and then back up to the nearly devoured sphere. "And why the heck is it _eating_ my Moko Takabisha? Better yet, why didn't it do that_ earlier_?"

"Dementors consume positive emotion," Setsuna explained quickly now that the ki had disappeared entirely and the Dementor was tracking on them more aggressively than before. "Once the victim is mentally broken, their very soul can then be... _extracted_."

"Then perhaps the technique is too potent at close range?" Konatsu theorized as she slipped another set of wards from the breast of her shozoko, looking for her target. "And I still cannot see the creature. Why can everybody else see it but me?l?"

"Sailor or Guardian Pluto when I don this aspect, please," She correct the despondent kunoichi, but nodded regardless. "Traditionally, only those who have been touched by magic can see them, though everybody can feel their..._effects_. Near paralytic terror, unless one is properly warded."

"Well that'd explain me, I guess," Ranma retorted. "Been touched by magic so many times-- Ah shit, here it comes. Dead ahead 'Natsu, just droppin' along the engine car."

The seals slid into her fingers and she broke into her charge even as Ranma powered up another moko takabisha, setting one blazing left of the nin. The ki flashed by and then another to the right in an attempt to keep the Dementor down the same predictable line of advance. It hissed at the effort, declining to attempt their consumption and instead charged into Konatsu, who promptly split into three separate versions of himself. A claw swiped at one, promptly reducing the clone into a exploding puff of smoke. The wraith snarled, racking the other with the same claw and took to the final remaining with the same ferocity, no longer charging but fully intent with killing everything around it. The final clone exploded predictably, but the process had effectively triangulated Konatsu's invisible target, slipping in a seal before dying.

The creature shrieked as the ward dumped its full potential into the Dementor, then another as the real Konatsu wavered back into existence and a second one along its now visible back. The specter writhed in agony as Konatsu rolled clear to allow his partners a clear line to the target. It didn't go to waste, and another moko takabisha slammed into it, detonating violently even as the thing attempted to rip the seals from its person.

"If you're gonna do somethin', better do it now!" Ranma hollered, straining with the release of another bolt of ki and sweat beading from the girl's head. Sailor Pluto nodded, spun the stave through a graceful arc and was in behind the last moko takabisha at a dead run. She flipped the implement around, bringing the heart tip to bear as she closed on her target.

"Garnet Rod,_ Set Up!_"

"_Stand by, Ready. Setup._" Her stave intoned and the heart tip suddenly parted with the command, breaking away down the center and extending out to form a inward curved 'V'. The moko takabisha detonated several seconds ahead of her assault, but it was all the time she needed as the crystal orb within the now broken heart pulsed bright pink, and she fed in the next command sequence. "Shard Seal!"

"_Sealing mode, set up_," It acknowledged vocally as the script from an eons dead language flowed across the orb. The shaft of her key sprang to life as she took the final leap through the blast wave of condensed air and ki, while the shaft itself unfolded into a series of notched keys that rotated out and locked into position. By the time the Dementor was able to perceive the new threat, it was far too late and watched in its own version of horror as The Princess of Pluto descended through the wave of pressure and plunged the radiant orb directly into its chest. The creature hissed agony with the impalement and Setsuna smiled grimly as she uttered the final command to her weapon.

"Garnet Rod... _SEAL!"_

The raging Dementor suddenly stiffened, its form arching as if it had suddenly been subjected to a few thousand volts of power. In reality, it wasn't far from the truth as rays of pink energy pierced the creature's shadowy veil, exploding outward brilliantly. Ranma and Konatsu watched from outside melee range as the Guardian of Pluto struggled with the staff as it bucked in hand, a quarter of its length imbedded in thrashing creature that was rapidly losing its own mass to the smoldering pink orb in its chest. It hissed, it screamed, and then it began to implode upon itself. The bony hand that had been attempting to unsuccessfully grasp the shaft of Pluto's weapon abruptly buckled, coinciding with the collapse of what should have been its shoulder. Both disappeared into what was rapidly becoming a whirlpool of shadow and the Dementor continued to lose density. Fifteen seconds in found the wraith to be a struggling ball of shadow, one arm desperately clinging to the outside world while the rest of it had been emulsified into a cloud of darkness from which a grotesque shadow rotten face would occasionally struggle upward, before being sucked back into the garnet gem's clouded event horizon.

The face surfaced for the last time, hissing defiance before being consumed entirely, the arm flaying wildly before becoming completely involved itself. The staff ceased its bucking and all three watched the cloud of shadows coalesce along the orbs foremost point and form into a faceted pink gem, its shaft no larger than that of a hand's span. The gem solidified, pulsed pink, then fell to the battle damaged train roof with a slight _'tink!_'

"_Soul Shard XXI... Sealed_." The staff reported in a vaguely feminine voice, and the keyed teeth along its length rotated back into position, snapping flush with the silver shaft as the heart tip locked back in to complete itself.

The trio gathered around the shard and Setsuna picked gem up, holding it to catch whatever meager light was able to penetrate the fog around them. She tipped the staff back over her shoulder in satisfaction. "And _that's_ how we dealt with Dementors in the Silver Millennium."

* * *

**T**he half giant known as Hagrid waited. By and large he was a patient man. After all, one had to be patient in raising some of the creatures he had tended to over the year. Fluffy's chewing stages, for example, required a _great deal_ of patience. At the moment, however, patience was wearing thin and he pulled out a beat-up pocket watch from his coat, eyeing it dubiously, as if it might actually not be telling him the correct time.

But it was.

The Hogwarts express was a full hour and fifteen minutes behind schedule. He of all people knew that it did not bode well for anybody involved, since the Express was _never_ late. And not only did the express carry the students- protected only by a small compliment of practiced wizards -but it held _them_... Professor Dumbledore's guests. _And that beautiful Asian siren_, the back of his mind added, and a slight smile crept across his bearded face for a moment before being physically shaken off, replaced by a more serious expression. He checked the watch again and stared down the tracks; out of beyond the Hogsmead station tunnel and into the night. Nothing but..._ A light_, the ground's keeper's chubby face suddenly animated, and the faintest chug of steam pistons carried on the wind.

"About damn time if you ask me," Hagrid grumbled to himself, all but ready to fetch the attendants when he was joined on the platform by two men and a woman. He blinked, recognizing the black man in sky blue and purple robes immediately. Next to him was a comely young woman with purple hair and a maroon leather jacket, while bringing up the rear, a pasty white skinned man in a trench coat. The half giant blinked, but greeted the new arrivals warmly nonetheless. "Last person I'd be expectin' around here, Mister Shacklebolt. Mister Dawlish as well if my eyes not be mistaken, but I'm not recognizing miss...?"

"Tonks," She answered simply, and the head of the wizard group nodded in kind. The trench coated mage glanced down the platform where the details of the train were just beginning to take shape in the inky night.

"Good to see you again, Groundskeeper," The black man nodded, but like his counterpart, continued to glance down the tracks himself.

Even the girl seemed a bit distracted, so he leaned in to get their attention. "Is there something I can be doin' for you? Expectin' it to get fairly busy once the train pulls in, of course."

"There has been... _an incident_," The head mage glanced back, his face a serious mask. The engine was just now entering the station's threshold, its churning steam cycles winding down with the reduction in speed.

"An incident?"

"An incident that requires Auror attention," the wizard named John Dawlish supplied, before turning back to the his partner. "Wands perhaps?"

"No, let us not provoke them," Kinglsly Shacklebolt shook his head, his eyes never leaving the train as it passed. First the engine, then the first red car. "Grounds keeper, please stand back. Tonks, ensure our flank is clear."

The woman nodded, taking her position alongside the two Aurors and the second car rolled by. Hagrid's jaw dropped as the third rolled by. Something had blown a hole clear out of the front left side of the compartment, resulting in twisted, mangled steel. Mangled, yes, but almost completely circular. His eyes traced along the roof of the car, which had nearly been sheered away in some places, while suffering high temperature scoring in others. Little of car number three's structure had been left untouched, and it looked as if half the siding was simply going to peel away. His large head tracked the locomotive as it slowed, grinding to a halt, and it wasn't until then he noticed the occupants. Unlike the other cars, this one wasn't crowded with students. It held exactly three individuals, plainly visible through one of the unshattered windows.

He recognized them as well.

"Oh, dear," he murmured. _Auror attention indeed,_ Hagrid realized, just now comprehending how deep he had stepped in it. He had invited them. He had passed the message on to the Professor. And now, his guests had apparently destroyed part of the Hogwarts' Express. Not that it couldn't be repaired with the wave of a wand, just that it looked bad... _very bad_ for him at the moment. The train finally lurched to a stop and the attendants were out, shepherding awed students young and old from the cars, but maintaining a clear corridor away from the third. The students tried to linger to find out just who had eliminated the Dementor and destroyed in the process when a redhead teenage girl popped her head from the compartment's largest breach, looking around the station before locking onto Hagrid and his newly acquired escort.

She hung out of the hole, hopping lightly onto the Hogsmead platform with the Asian ninja goddess behind her, followed shortly by the Senshi of Pluto in fuku armor. The diminutive girl was the first to pipe up.

"Uh, yeah... One of you guys named Dumbledore?"

**Author's Notes-**  
Um, so... 38kw. Not much to say here except... Well, not much :) Hope you liked it and will try to keep them coming semi regularly. Of course, maintaining this build size means an extended time frames and I make no guarantees as to my schedule, but I'll try my best.

The nekoken:_ In spite of claims otherwise, there is no exact predictor of what triggers the phobia, as RT illustrates Ranma in the presence of dozens of cats without mental collapse and then in other scenes where it takes only one to do it. As such, I will attribute it to other psychological factors, such as ambient mental stress at the time that determines the number it takes to trigger the phobia. _

Kasumi Konatsu: _I've really enjoyed evolving 'Natsu into a main character and in doing so have noted a peculiar item. Konatsu's canon character actually reads the way most fics portray fanon kasumi; airheaded, unconcerned and oblivious. Of course, there isn't a whole lot of depth invested into kasumi's character as it is, but I would consider her the more down to earth of the pair._

Konatsu no justsu:_ No Naruto crossovers will be found, but i found it a fun way to extend his abilities beyond what we see in canon. Likewise it meshes well with his demonstrated techniques._

Hogwarts Express: _Travel times were a little iffy but scheduling does indicate a solid 8 hour trip by normal IRL rail London to Edinburgh, where Hogwarts castle is roundabouts located. Being a magical train, I've defaulted the Hogwarts Express travel time to about 6 hours._

Ranma/Konatsu vs Dementors: _Believe it or not, there are things Ranma cannot kill and after some review, I've decided one of those things would be dementors... In most cases. That's not to say neither can hurt them, as I've scripted Ranma's confidence based attacks as being able to at least inconvenience it, while Konatsu's blade and seals do likewise. In most cases, an artifact of the silver millennium would be required to dispatch one of these vile creatures._

Nabiki!Syndicated:_ Normally there is a fine line in casting Nabiki's sphere of influence and I've admittedly embellished therein. One thing that can be solidly laid at her feet in canon is the international distribution of hankerchiefs featuring a topless Ranma-chan to international clientelle, featured in Book 35, "Nabiki's Revenge". From there it's pretty easy justification to include pictures and other activities in her actions as well._

Ranma!English: _Just roll with it. He doesn't seem to have too much issue with it in class and I'm also crediting pre-canon training trip exposure as well. Setsuna would obviously know English and Konatsu rolled 1d6 save vs plot jutsu.  
_  
Special Thanks; _Materia Blade, TriMatter, DT, Slade13, Mark, Yasuhei, DCG and of course all the suggestions from the people at F3. If I missed anybody, I still love you, just am impatient to get this out._


End file.
